BREAKING: Court Thwarts Lawan’s Reelection Bid, Declares Machina’s APC Senatorial Candidate

The All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission have been ordered to recognize Bashir Machina as the party’s candidate for the Senate seat representing Yobe North by the Federal High Court in Damaturu.

The presiding judge, Justice Fadima Murtala Aminu, nullified the parallel primary election that produced the Senate President, Ahmed 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.

The judgment came weeks after Machina distanced himself from notice of withdrawal from the race, which has since gone viral.

A copy of the notice that our correspondent was able to obtain included a letter that Machina is said to have written to the party’s national chairman announcing his withdrawal from the race for the senator from Yobe North.

On August 9, 2022, The PUNCH reported that INEC had refused to recognize Lawan and Senator Godswill Akpabio as APC senatorial candidates.

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Lawan and Akpabio both participated in the APC Presidential primary. However, after losing, the APC listed both of them as senatorial candidates, but INEC refused to accept them.

According to The PUNCH, Lawan, Akpabio, and the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, decided to choose Senate tickets for the Yobe North, Ebonyi South, and Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial Districts, respectively, after failing to win the APC’s presidential primary.