The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Friday reserved judgment in an appeal in respect of the All Progressives Congress(APC) Yobe North senatorial district.
President Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a three-man panel of Justices, reserved judgment after taking arguments from counsel on Friday.
By the appeal, Senate President Ahmed Lawan is challenging the decision of Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu, which had, on September 28, 2022, declared Bashir Machina as the authentic candidate of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District.
Machina won the primary election organized by the APC in May 2022, while Lawan opted to contest the presidential primary election organized by the APC in June.
Lawan lost the APC presidential ticket to former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu.
However, Machina was asked to step down for Lawan but he insisted that he would not withdraw for the Senate President.
In the face of the controversy, the APC submitted the Senate President’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its Senatorial Candidate for Yobe North.
Miffed by the development, Machina headed to court to seek redress and specifically asked the court to declare him as the validly elected senatorial candidate of the APC for the 2023 election.
Recall that Justice Aminu had nullified the parallel primary election that produced Lawan on June 9, 2022, and consequently, ordered the APC to forward the name of Machina to INEC as the authentic winner of the primary held in May.
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