Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has lost his re-election bid in what can be described as the greatest upset of the 2023 general election.
Matawalle, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), lost to Dr Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Kassimu Shehu, who is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, on Tuesday in Gusau, declared the PDP candidate as the winner of the March 18 election governorship election in the state.
He said Lawal polled 377,726 valid votes from the 14 local government areas, against Matawalle’s 311,976 votes.
“I Prof. Kassimu Shehu of the Federal University Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, certify that I am INEC Returning Officer for Zamfara State.
“That Dr. Lawal Dauda of the PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is declared winner and returned elected,” Shehu declared.
The Tuesday morning declaration came after some mild drama over the presentation of the results for Maradun Local Government Area (LGA), where allegations surfaced that the Collation Officer, Dr Ahmed Kainuwa, had been abudcted.
Kainuwa however later turned up at the state collation centre at the INEC headquarters in Gusau and explained his reasons for the delayed appearance.
Recall that Matawalle was elected on the PDP platform in 2019 but defected to the APC in 2021.
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