Yobe North: Why Supreme Court reinstated Lawan as APC candidate
The Supreme Court reinstated Senate President Ahmed Lawan as the APC’s candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial election on Monday, in a split decision.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, appealed the nomination of Bashir Sheriff Machina as its senatorial candidate, and while three of the Supreme Court’s five-member panel upheld the appeal, two other Justices on the panel dissented and dismissed it.
In its lead majority decision, which was read by Justice Centus Nweze, the Supreme Court ruled that Machina’s Federal High Court lawsuit ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to acknowledge his candidature was incompetent.
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It determined that the lawsuit should have been initiated with a Writ of Summons to enable witnesses because it contained allegations of fraud.
Justice Adamu Jauro wrote in his lead minority decision that there was enough proof to show that Lawan legitimately withdrew from the Senate race, allowing him to vote in the APC presidential primary.
He remarked that the evidence that Lawan voluntarily withdrew from the party’s senatorial primary election held on May 28, 2022 in order to pursue his presidential ambition was not contested by the APC, as the appellant before it.
Additionally, Justice Jauro ruled that it was improper for the APC to hold another primary election after Lawan lost his bid for president because Machina won the aforementioned primary election.
He determined that the APC violated the law by holding a new primary election without first nullifying Machina’s victory in the prior election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, was not required by law to monitor the subsequent primary election, which was held on June 9, 2022, according to the court’s ruling.
Justice Jauro further ruled that because Lawan had taken part in the party’s presidential primary election, he was ineligible to run in any senatorial primary elections.
He determined that the APC’s appeal to have Machina’s selection as its senatorial candidate overturned was unfounded.
He upheld the case’s earlier Court of Appeal ruling as a result and gave the APC N10 million in costs.
