According to information received on Friday afternoon, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed Bashir Sheriff Machina as the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the Yobe North Senatorial District (APC).
INEC has since distanced itself from the election of Senate President Ahmed Lawan.
The report of the senatorial primary held in Damaturu, the state capital, on Saturday May 28, 2022, obtained by this medium, also did not include the name of the embattled Senate President.
At the end of the process, Bashir Machina, who ran unopposed in the primary, received 289 votes and was declared the winner.
The following documents were obtained on Friday:
The Yobe North Senatorial Primary Crisis
The Yobe North senatorial ticket sparked controversy after Machina, who won the primary, was rumored to be a’stand-in’ for the Senate President (Ahmad Lawan), who ran for the APC presidential ticket in June but lost to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Recall that, Lawan previously dismissed reports of his intention to return to the Senate if the party’s presidential ticket was lost in the senatorial primary.
However, following the conclusion of the presidential primary and his subsequent defeat, the Senate President made frantic efforts to reclaim the Yobe North senatorial ticket that had previously been handed to Machina.
Machina, on the other hand, stated unequivocally that he would not resign for the Senate President.
Meanwhile, the party presented no records of Lawan’s participation in the senatorial primary, despite the fact that the APC chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, insisted that the aspirant participated in the elections.
However, Lawan, who currently represents Yobe North district, was eventually named the APC senatorial candidate for the 2023 general election, leaving Machina out of the running.
