S’Court rules Lawan, Machina battle Monday

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, Feb. 6, ruled for judgment in the protracted legal battle between Senate President Ahmed Lawan and Bashir Machina over the authenticity of the All Progressive Congress senatorial candidacy.

The apex court set the date to determine the merits of an appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress challenging the verdict that disqualified Lawan from running in the upcoming election as a candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.

A five-member panel of apex court judges headed by Judge Chima Nweze adjourned the appeal, after accepting arguments from both parties.

Earlier, on November 28, 2022, Lawan lost his re-election bid, following the judgment of the Abuja Court of Appeals, which confirmed Machina as the APC’s authentic candidate for the Senate elections.

In a unanimous decision, Appeals Court Judge Monica Dongban-People rejected APC’s appeal in favor of Lawan, saying it was unfounded.

Earlier, the party had challenged the verdict of a federal high court in Damaturu that recognized Machina as a candidate for the senate district.

The Supreme Court had overturned a parallel primary held by the APC to ensure that Lawan returned to the Senate and ruled the poll the party had conducted was invalid.

The court ordered the APC to immediately forward Machina’s name to INEC as a candidate for election.

The appeals court also upheld the Supreme Court’s judgment, noting that APC had failed to join Lawan as a co-plaintiff in the appeal, rather naming him as the 2nd defendant.

It ruled that the party’s action showed that while trying to achieve its goal, it worked with Lawan and dismissed the appeal while awarding N1 million costs in favor of Machina.

The court affirmed that the primaries that produced Lawan were properly overseen by INEC in accordance with the Electoral Act, the 1999 Constitution and the APC’s Election Guidelines.

Recall that after Lawan lost the primary, Bola Tinubu became the APC presidential candidate. However, he urged Machina, who was vying and winning as the party’s candidate for the senatorial seat, to relinquish the senatorial ticket to him – a request which Machina declined.

However, in a confluence of circumstances, the APC submitted Lawan’s name to the INEC as a senate candidate for Yobe North, prompting an aggrieved Machina to seek redress in court.

Specifically, he asked the court to declare him as the APC’s validly elected Senate candidate for the Senate election and the court granted his prayer.

Insisting that Lawan was the preferred candidate, the APC took the case to the Court of Appeals and begged the court to overturn the Supreme Court ruling of Judge Fadimatu Aminu, which invalidated the parallel primaries the APC had held to ensure that Lawan returned to the senate and declared Machina as the authentic candidate for the senatorial seat