Machina was fired by the Supreme Court, and Lawan was confirmed as the legitimate candidate for Yobe North

Machina was fired by the Supreme Court, and Lawan was confirmed as the legitimate candidate for Yobe North

Ahmed Lawan has been recognized by the Supreme Court as the legitimate candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District.

In the main decision, Justice Centus Nweze criticized Bashir Machina’s strategy for starting the lawsuit at the Federal High Court Damaturu division through an originating summons and without providing oral evidence to support fraud accusations.

In the majority ruling, the Supreme Court also overturned the Gombe Division of the Appeal Court’s decision, which had upheld the trial court’s designation of Machina as the Senatorial Candidate for Yobe North.

However, the Supreme Court stated in a ruling by Justices Emmanuel Agim and Adamu Jauro that Ahmad Lawan never took part in the APC primary on May 28 because he resigned willingly to compete in the presidential primary on June 8, 2022.

The minority opinion stated that because the APC did not cancel the primary held on May 28 before holding a new one, the conduct of the primary on June 9, 2022, in which Lawan won, violated Section 84(5) of the Electoral Act.

The Federal High Court’s verdicts in Yobe and the Court of Appeal’s rulings in Abuja, according to Justice Centus Nweze, who read the lead judgment, were erroneous and ought to be overturned.

According to the charges of fraud made against the APC in the transmission of Mr. Lawan’s name to INEC, he said, Mr. Machina should have started his lawsuit through a writ of summons.

However, the majority decision was rejected by Adamu Jauro and Emmanuel Agim, two additional Supreme Court panelists.

Justice Adamu Jauro stated in the lead dissenting opinion that the APC’s “appeal is devoid of merit.”
He criticized a N3 million fine imposed on the APC in Mr. Machina’s favor.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Emmanuel Agim claims that the 9 June APC primary election that resulted in Mr. Lawal was a fraudulent process.

He pointed out that the Senate President was automatically disqualified from the National Assembly election when Mr. Lawan withdrew from the candidacy for the Yobe North Senatorial District on May 12 in order to run for the APC presidential ticket.

Mr. Agim adds that the supposed primary election, which was place on June 9, 2022, was a sham because INEC did not oversee it.