The Supreme Court’s decision certifying him as the Yobe APC senatorial candidate has been hailed by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as a win for the party.
After Centus Nweze, a justice of the court, announced the verdict on Monday in Abuja, he made this statement while updating press about it.
“Let me start by praising God for his blessing and of course, what had happened today in the Supreme Court,” Mr. Lawan added, thanking God for the victory.
“The decision regarding Yobe North in particular is a win for APC in Yobe and APC generally across the nation.
“What happened was democracy in action, and the courts issued their various rulings, with the supreme court, of course, issuing the final ruling.
“At this moment, I want to thank the supreme court and the judiciary in general for reaching this kind of decision to support our democracy.
This is due to the fact that all of us and all institutions have a part to play in preserving and strengthening democracy. I thus praise them.
He also expressed gratitude to the APC for bringing the case before the Supreme Court.
“So today is a win for everyone who was involved. I serve as a symbol, but the victory belongs to the APC and democracy.
Mr. Lawan also expressed gratitude to his Senate colleagues for their friendship, support, and collaboration.
“I want to reaffirm my commitment to good leadership,” he stated.
“We shall always be grateful to our colleagues for entrusting us with overseeing the ninth National Assembly.
“We’ll be focusing on February 25 since that’s when the National Assembly and presidential elections will be held.
“By God’s Grace, Nigerians will elect the APC once more. By the grace of God, Bola Tinubu, the APC’s presidential nominee, and Senator Kashim Shettima, the party’s vice presidential nominee, will be elected president and vice president of Nigeria on April 25.
“You already know what the outcome of the Senate and House of Representatives elections will be. The APC will win a resounding majority, and the same is true for the House of Representatives.
The Yobe North APC senatorial candidate, Mr. Lawan, was upheld by the Supreme Court on Monday.
The court accepted the appeal made by the APC against Bashir Machina’s candidacy in a majority decision given by Mr. Nweze.
NAN noted that in an appeal by the APC against the ruling of Fadimatu Aminu, a judge of the Federal High Court, Damaturu, a judge Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a three-member panel of the appellate court, granted the affirmation.
On September 28, 2022, Mrs. Aminu of the Federal High Court pronounced Mr. Machina the victor of the primary election held by the party on May 28, 2022.
However, after Bola Tinubu won the APC’s presidential primary, the party chose to replace Mr. Machina with Mr. Lawan.
However, Mr. Machina emphasized that he would not stand down for the president of the Senate.
In spite of the issue, the APC nominated the Senate President as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Mr. Machina went to court to seek restitution after being dissatisfied with his party’s decision.
In particular, Mr. Machina urged the court in his lawsuit to recognize him as the APC’s duly elected senatorial candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District.
Mrs. Aminu insisted that the National Working Committee of the APC held a legitimate primary election on May 28, which was won by Mr. Machina, and declared invalid the parallel primary poll that gave rise to Mr. Lawan on June 9 of that year.
As a result, the trial court instructed the APC to declare Mr. Machina the legitimate district primary election winner by sending his name to INEC.
