Court Recognises Machina as Yobe North Senatorial Candidate
The Court of Appeal has recognised Bashir Machina in Abuja as the legitimate All Progressives Congress candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District.
On Monday, the court maintained the decision of the Federal High Court, located in Damaturu, Yobe State, and found that Senate President Ahmad Lawan was not the APC candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District in the 2023 elections.
Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a three-person panel affirmed in an appeal by Lawan, disputing the decision of Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court Damaturu, which had on September 28, 2022, 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 scheduled by the APC on June 9.
The APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission were instructed in September by the Federal High Court in Damaturu to recognise Machina as the party’s nominee for the Senate seat in Yobe North.
Justice Fadima Aminu, the presiding judge, declared the parallel primary election that resulted in Lawan on June 9, 2022, invalid.
The judge further mandated that Machina’s name be forwarded to INEC as the legitimate winner of the May primary.
“In the final analysis, the conditions for the validity of primary elections were fulfilled in the election of May 28, 2022, which produced the plaintiff. The phantom election of June 9 2022, which produced the second defendant, is hereby declared invalid in view of the outline provision of the law of the very primary election.
“Consequently, the plaintiff has hereby declared the validly elected candidate of the first defendant of the Yobe North senatorial candidate of the first defendant conducted on 28/05/2022 for the 2023 general election.
“The first defendant is hereby ordered to prepare the name and details of the plaintiff to the third defendant as its rightful candidate. This is my decision,” Aminu ruled.
The verdict came weeks after Machina disassociated himself from the race withdrawal announcement, which has now gained widespread attention.
Lawan and Akpabio both ran for president of the APC. However, after losing, the APC named both of them as senate candidates, but INEC refused to recognise them.
