The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja put paid to the ambition of the senate president, Mr. Ahmed Lawan to return to the national assembly in 2023 as it upheld Mr. Bashir Machina as the bona fide candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Yobe North senatorial district.
The court, in a judgement delivered yesterday a three-man panel led by the President of the Court, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, dismissed Lawan’s appeal as lacking in merit.
Recall that the APC had approached the appellate court seeking to set aside the judgment of lower court, insisting Lawan was the authentic Senatorial candidate for Yobe North in next year’s election.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, Lawan, who had publicly declared that he had accepted his situation in good faith, still proceeded to the appellate court, where he also lost on Monday.
After losing out in the APC presidential primary election in June, Lawan, sought to get the party’s senatorial ticket to return to the senate in 2023.
Lawal did not participate in the original APC Yobe North primary held on 28 May, because he was contesting to be the party’s presidential candidate.
Having failed to secure his party’s nod to run for president, Lawal tried to reclaim the party’s ticket for Yobe North, a district he has represented since 2007.
In the face of the controversy, the APC submitted Lawan’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North.
In its judgement yesterday, the court held that the appeal was an abuse of court process.
The 1st respondent (Machina) remains the Appellant (APC’s) candidate for Yobe North senatorial district.
“The lower court was right when it held that the purported primary election held on 9 June was not monitored by INEC.”
“I find that the lower court properly evaluated all the issues raised before it. Therefore, all the issues are resolved against the appellant,” Dongban-Mensem said.
