Ahmad Lawan, Nigeria’s Senate President, has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court through the All Progressives Congress (APC) asking the apex court to declare him the party’s senatorial candidate for Yobe North and set aside the judgement of the trial and appellate courts which declared Bashir Machina as the rightful senatorial candidate of the party.
In the suit number FHC/DM/CS/11/2022, the APC is challenging the decision of the two lower courts that affirmed the candidature of Machina who won the May 28th primary election of the party.
Some media reports say Lawan had budgeted huge amount of money to get a favourable judgement at the apex court especially after seeing the judgement of former Minister of the Niger-Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio who was declared authentic senatorial candidate of APC for Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district.
Lawan according to sources had tried repeatedly to bribe Machina to relinquish his ticket for him which Machina vehemently rejected.
The Supreme Court has fixed Wednesday, February 1, for the hearing of the suit.
Recall that the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the senatorial candidacy of Machina.
The Appeal Court had in a unanimous judgment affirmed the earlier decision of the Federal High Court, Damaturu which declared Machina as the rightful senatorial candidate of APC for Yobe North.
The court dismissed the petition filed by the ruling party for being unmeritorious and awarded N1 million to Machina.
President of the Court, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem who delivered the judgement held that the lower court was right when it validated the May 28th APC senatorial primary election that produced Machina because it was duly monitored by INEC.
In June, a Federal High Court in Damaturu, Yobe State had declared Machina as the party’s senatorial candidate for Yobe North having emerged from a valid primary election that was conducted on May 28, 2022.
Though Lawan initially accepted the verdict and made public his decision not to appeal the judgement, he, however, made a U-turn and secretly sponsored an appeal at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
