The All Progressives Congress has finally sent the name of Bashir Machina as the Yobe North senatorial candidate as directed by the Federal High Court, Damaturu to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The ruling party in a letter signed by the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, and Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, the party directed INEC to also publish the name of Machina on its portal in line with the court order.
“We write to notify the commission of the attached judgment dated September 28, 2022, and order dated October 5, 2022, from the Federal High Court, Damaturu Judicial Division, directing the commission to accept and recognise Machina as the party’s candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District, Yobe State, and publish same accordingly.”
A Federal High Court in Damaturu, Yobe State, had ruled that Nigeria’s Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, was not the candidate of the ruling APC for Yobe North in the 2023 elections into NASS.
The court affirmed Machina as the lawful candidate of the party, having won the legally-recognized primary, supervised by INEC as Lawan didn’t participate in the election held on May 28.
Lawan was one of the presidential aspirants that sought to fly the flag of the party for the February 25, 2023 election next year. Former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, however, beat others to emerge as the candidate of the party.
He then rushed back to Yobe to see how he would regain the senatorial slot, but Machina insisted that he would not yield his electoral victory to him. In the ensuing legal tussle, the court ruled that Machina should be recognized by the electoral umpire. Lawan then said that he would not appeal the judgment.
What the decision of the party means for the Senate President is that for the first time since 1999, he would not be holding any elective post in the country post May 29, 2023.
