THE Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed the suit filed by Senate President Ahmed Lawan against Bashir Machina, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.
The court dismissed the appeal in a judgment delivered by at THE Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed the suit filed by Senate President Ahmed Lawan against Bashir Machina, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District. three-member panel led by Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, on Monday, November 28.
In the judgment, the court affirmed Machina as the authentic candidate of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District.
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The appellate court upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court in Damaturu, Yobe State, which held that Lawan is not the APC candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District in next year’s election.
It held that a primary election conducted by the APC on June 9 – won by Lawan – was invalid as it was in breach of the Constitution.
Noting that the law is settled as to the involvement of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in party primaries, the court stressed that the June 9 primary election was not monitored by the electoral commission.
The court added that while APC, in the appeal, made a case ar itself and its preferred candidate Lawan, it failed to make him a co-appellant.
According to the court, Lawan appeared in the case as the 2nd respondent indicating that he and the APC were working at cross purposes while trying to achieve a goal.
The court therefore ruled that the appeal is unmeritorious as it fails in its entirety.
It subsequently awarded the sum of N1 million, which is to be paid by the APC to Machina as legal cost.
The Senate President Lawan had lost the APC presidential ticket to former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu in June while Machina won the the Senatorial primary in May.
However, Machina was asked to step down for Lawan but he insisted that he would not withdraw for him.
But the APC went ahead to submit Lawn’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidate for Yobe North.
Machina subsequently headed to court to seek redress. He specifically asked the court to declare him as the validly elected senatorial candidate of the APC for the 2023 election.
Ruling on the suit in June, the Federal High Court held that Lawan did not participate in the legally recognised May 28 primary election organised by the APC to select its senatorial candidate for Yobe North.
The court directed INEC to accept and publish Machina’s name according to electoral guidelines.
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