Lawan throws in towel after failed attempts to snatch senatorial ticket from Machina

Mohammed O. Taoheed

President of the Senate Ahmed Lawan says he has accepted the outcome of legal tussle to claim the All Progressives Congress Yobe North Senatorial District ticket for the 2023 election.

The Damaturu Division of the Federal High Court had on Wednesday affirmed Bashir Machina as the lawful winner of the senatorial ticket that Mr Lawan had been fighting frantically to snatch.

The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Mr Machina as the APC candidate and publish his name as so.

Mr Lawan, a sixth-term federal lawmaker, had resorted to returning to the Senate after failing to secure his party’s presidential ticket at the June 8 primary election.

But Mr Machina, the winner of the earlier-conducted Yobe North senatorial primary, thought to be a placeholder for Mr Lawan, flatly refused to concede the ticket to the Senate President.

INEC had earlier been left in a quandary as APC national leadership insisted that Mr Lawan was its candidate against the outcome which certified by Mr Machina as the rightful candidate in consonance with the Electoral Act. The commission had since abstained from publishing any name until the matter was legally resolved.

“After due consultations with my political associates, supporters and well-wishers, I have decided not to appeal against the judgement,” Mr Lawan said in a statement shared on his verified Facebook page on Thursday.

“At this juncture, I deem it appropriate to thank His Excellency, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam for the leadership role in the APC political family in Yobe State. I also thank His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni for the support and brotherhood.”

The outgoing senator also reassures his support for the party and the people of his district and the state at large.