Indications are rife that the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan has finally lost out because the All Progressives Congress (APC) has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Bashir Machina as the Yobe North senatorial candidate as directed by the Federal High Court, Damaturu.
The letter, signed by the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu and Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, 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.”
ASHENEWS recalls that 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 then affirmed Machina as the authentic candidate of the party, having won the legally-recognised primary, supervised by INEC as Lawan didn’t participate in the election held on May 28.
Machina had filed a suit praying the court to rule that he was the candidate of the party.
He also asked the court to order INEC to include his name in its final register of candidates for the National Assembly election.
