Fresh Hope For Ahmad Lawan In Yobe North As Supreme Court Schedules Judgment

The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed Feb 6 for  judgment in the long drawn legal battle over the authenticity of the Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC in Yobe North with a glimmer of hope for the outgoing president of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan.

Entangled in the legal battle for the Senatorial ticket is the incumbent Senate’s President, Ahmad Lawan and Bashir Machina.

The Apex Court fixed the date after taking arguments from counsel for APC and Machina.

Justice Centus Nweze who presided over a five-member panel of Justices of the Court fixed the date.

APC which is routing for Lawan as its Senatorial candidate filed the appeal against the judgments of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal which held Bashir Machina as the party’s candidate.

In its arguments presented by Sepiribo Peters, APC claimed that the primary election conducted on May 27, 2022 which produced Machina is unknown to law because it was conducted by unlawful people.

He claimed that another primary election conducted on June 6 which produced Lawan is the authentic election of the party.

However, Mr Sarafa Yusuff, counsel to Machina asked the Apex Court to dismiss the APC’S appeal for being frivolous and baseless.

He informed the court that Danjuma Manga Committee was set up by the APC conducted the primary election on behalf of the National Working Committee of APC.

Yusuff drew the attention of the court to an affidavit deposed to by Danjuma Manga to the effect that he was mandated along with five others by the APC National Secretariat to conduct the Senatorial primary elections in Yobe.

The counsel argued that uptil now, the affidavit of the said Danjuma Manga had not been disputed or denied by the APC and subsequently urged the court to affirm Bashir Sheriff Machina as the authentic Senatorial candidate of APC for Yobe North Senatorial District.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed Machina as the authentic candidate of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District.

The court  upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu, Yobe, which held that Lawan was not the APC candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District in the 2023 elections.

Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a three-man panel, gave the affirmation in an appeal by Lawan, challenging the decision of Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court Damaturu, which had on Sept. 28, 2022, declared Machina as the winner of the primary election organised by the APC in May 2022, while Lawan opted to contest the presidential primary election organised by the APC on June 9.

The Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu had in September ordered the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise Machina as Yobe North senatorial candidate of the party and the Supreme Court judgment is seen as the last hope for Ahmad Lawan (NAN)

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