The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Thursday, further dashed the hopes of Nigeria’s Senate President, Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan as he seeks a return to the National Assembly in 2023, Charmingpro reports
Charmingpro reports that Lawan has been locked up in a battle with Bashir Sheriff Machina in his bid to secure a return ticket to represent Yobe North Senatorial district on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Lawan, a former Education Officer, who worked in Yobe State Ministry of Education, made foray into politics in 1999 and got elected first into the House of Representatives to represent Bade/Jakusko Federal Constituency of Yobe State on the platform of opposition All Peoples Party (APP). In 2003, he contested to represent Yobe North Senatorial seat and won and since then, the Professor of Remote Sensing has been winning elections seamlessly, particularly after he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) early 2015.
His attempt to up his political game in 2023, by contesting for presidential primary of the APC has unarguably resulted to the ongoing political battle with another APC chieftain, Bashir Sheriff Machina, with both laying claim to the sole ticket.
Machina is relying on the Yobe North Senatorial primary which was conducted on June 28, a time he said Senator Lawan was contesting for the APC presidential primary, which he lost to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Machina scored 289 votes out of 300 delegates that took part in the primary.
He argued that the APC primary election was held at the Yobe North Senatorial headquarters and was monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as required by the 2022 amended Electoral Act.
Machina insisted that he won the ticket and urged the Electoral umpire and the All Progressives Congress to recognise him as such.
However, Lawan, who is the President of the ninth Senate, argued that he participated in a repeat primary election to return to the 10th Senate in 2023, a claim that the National Chairman of APC, Abdullahi Adamu and former governor of Nasarawa State corroborated in a media interview.
While speaking with journalists at the APC National headquarters in the heat of Yobe North ticket claims and counter-claims, Adamu told journalists: “All I know is that Senator Ahmad Lawan contested for APC Yobe North Senatorial primary election and he won.
“Any other negativities and speculations, I don’t have time.”
But, political pundits continue to react on the development with some stressing that Lawan acted against the dictates of the Electoral Amended Act, 2022 with a proviso that “double nomination was not allowed.”
Documents had emerged amidst the controversies, purporting that Machina had withdrawn from the race.
Reacting to the withdrawal letter, Machina described the letter as fake and urged the Yobe North electorate to ignore and continue to support his ambition