The Supreme Court Friday upheld the ruling of an appellate court that there were no valid election primaries in Zamafara State prior to the 2019 general elections.

The ruling effectively ended the hope of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of leading the northwestern state for the next four years.

The ruling also affects all candidates of the APC that contested and won the Zamfara State House of Assembly elections.

A court of appeal in Sokoto ruled in March that no valid primaries were conducted by the APC in the state considered an APC stronghold.

That ruling was upheld unanimously by a five-member panel of the top court.

The court insisted that the APC did not have a valid candidate and could not have emerged winner of the elections. The party was also ordered to pay a N10 million fine.

“Candidate other than the first appellant with the highest vote stand elected. A cost of N10 million is awarded against the appellant,” the court ruled.