February 06, (THEWILL) – The Supreme Court has declared Senate President Ahmad Lawan, as the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North Senatorial District.
The ruling followed an appeal filed by the APC against the judgments of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal, which held Bashir Sheriff Machina, as the party’s candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District.
But in a split judgment of three to two Justices on Monday, the apex court allowed the appeal filed by the APC against Machina’s candidature.
Leading a 5-man panel of Justices, the majority judgement read by Justice Centus Chima Nweze, faulted the approach of Machina in commencing the suit at the Federal High Court Damaturu division by way of originating summons and without oral evidence to prove allegations of fraud.
However, a minority judgement by Justices Adamu Jauro and Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, disagreed with the majority judgment and held that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal were correct in their findings and declared Machina as APC’s Senatorial candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.
The two Justices held that Machina was lawfully nominated because the primary election of May 28, 2022, which produced him, was lawfully conducted in line with the provisions of the law.
Justices Jauro and Agim insisted that APC conducted an unlawful primary election, which produced Lawan since the May 28 primary election was not cancelled before that of June 9, 2022, which purportedly produced Lawan.
The Minority judgment declared the primary election where Lawan emerged as candidate, illegal, unlawful and a breach of section 285 of the 1999 Constitution.
