The Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, has ordered the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise Bashir Machina as Yobe North senatorial candidate of the party.
The judgment brings to a close the controversial All Progressives Congress primary election of the Yobe North Senatorial District, which is represented presently in the Senate by Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President.
The presiding judge, Justice Fadimatu Murtala, pronounced the ruling on Wednesday.
According to local media reports, for about four months, Machina and the Senate President Ahmad Lawan have been at loggerheads over the ticket won by Machina at the primaries held on May 28 and June 9, 2022.
While the case was in the court both the names of Machina and Lawan were left out in the final list of the Presidential and National Assembly candidates of the 18 registered political parties published the Independent National Electoral Commission last week.
Lawan had contested the presidential primary of the ruling party at about the same time as the senatorial primary won by Machina. The Senate president, however, lost to Bola Tinubu, a development that forced him to jostle for the senatorial ticket, but Machina insisted that he won’t step down for him.
Lawan has been in the National Assembly as a federal lawmaker for 23 unbroken years.
GIK/APA