The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed the Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.
In the lead judgement, Justice Centus Nweze faulted the approach of Bashir Machina in commencing the suit at the Federal High Court Damaturu division by way of originating summons and without oral evidence to prove allegations of fraud.
On November 28, 2022, an Appeal Court in Abuja, had affirmed Bashir Machina as the duly elected candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Yobe north senatorial district in the 2023 election.
The court upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu, Yobe State, and presided over by Justice Fadimatu Aminu which had earlier ruled that Lawan, was not the candidate of the APC for Senatorial District.
Following the High Court ruling, the APC had approached the Appeal Court but Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, who presided over a three-man panel, declared Machina as the winner of the primary election organised by the APC in May 2022, while Lawan opted to contest the presidential primary election organised by the APC on June 9.
There has been a controversy over the senatorial ticket of the APC in Yobe north.
During the primary election organised by the party in May 2022, Machina won unopposed but Lawan, who contested the party’s presidential ticket unsuccessfully later returned to reclaim the ticket from Machina, who turned down all overtures to make him step down for the Senate President.
Mr Lawan, who was elected into the National Assembly since 1999, has been struggling to retrieve the Yobe North senate ticket after he lost out at the APC presidential primaries.
Despite being anointed as the ruling party’s preferred candidate by the APC national chairman Abdullahi Adamu, Senator Lawan came a distant fourth with 152 votes against Bola Ahmad Tinubu’s 1,271 winning votes. Mr Rotimi Amaechi came second with 316 votes, while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo came third with 235 votes.
However, after losing the bid to secure the party’s presidential ticket, Lawan aided by the party’s leadership, moved to return to the senate.
Machina who was the sole candidate in the senatorial primary secured 289 votes and was declared the party’s candidate.
But Machina, who confirmed that he has been approached by some persons to step down for Lawan, however vowed not to withdraw from the race.
APC chairman Adamu had warned that Machina risked severe sanctions if he refused to relinquish his ticket to Lawan.
However, In a statement on Sunday, Machina has dismissed claims that he had stepped down for Lawan.
He said it was also not true that he had defected from the APC.
The statement said, “It has been brought to my notice that some unscrupulous elements forged a letter of my withdrawal from the race out of mischief and blackmail.
“I state unequivocally that the letter was forged. I did not at any time withdraw or resign from the APC.
“I was shocked when I discovered that some persons concocted plans to mislead the public particularly my supporters into believing that I have withdrawn.”
Machina called on the national secretariat of the APC to issue a statement on the forged letter which carried its official stamp.
The APC chieftain said he had instructed his lawyers to institute legal action against those behind the fake letter of his withdrawal from the race.
