The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed Bashir Machina as
the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Yobe North
Senatorial District.
The court, on Monday, upheld the judgment of the Federal
High Court sitting in Damaturu, Yobe State, which held that Senate President
Ahmad Lawan was not the APC candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District in the
2023 elections.
Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a three-man
panel, gave the affirmation in an appeal by Lawan, challenging 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 organised by the APC on June 9.
The Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu had in September
ordered the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise
Machina as Yobe North senatorial candidate of the party.
The presiding judge, Justice Fadima Aminu, nullified the
parallel primary election that produced Lawan on June 9, 2022.
The judge also ordered the APC to forward the name of
Machina to INEC as the authentic winner of the primary held in May.
“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 judgement was coming weeks after Machina distanced
himself from the notice of withdrawal from the race which had since gone viral.