Zamfara defection: H/Court adjourns, awaits S/Court verdict

A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the hearing in the suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to remove Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State to March 20, 2023, to await the Supreme Court decision on a similar appeal.

Justice Inyang Ekwo on Thursday said the parties can return on the adjourned date after the decision in the appeal filed by the PDP against Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State.

PDP brought the suit in March seeking the removal of Governor Matawalle and about 32 members of the Senate, House of Representatives and State Assembly, who defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In the suit, PDP is seeking a declaration that following the Supreme Court judgement of 2019 in APC and another versus Senator Kabiru Marafa and 179 others, only members of the PDP, including Matawalle were entitled to hold the office of the governor and deputy governor or member of the Zamfara State House of Assembly “or occupy any position or seat as a senator or member of the House of Representatives of the Nigerian National Assembly for the purpose of representing any senatorial district or electoral constituency in Zamfara State for the period beginning from May 29, 2019, and ending May 28, 2023.”