Recall that Senator Lawan had insisted that he was the rightful APC Senatorial candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District in the 2023 election.
The campaign organisation of the Yobe North Senatorial District candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashir Sheriff Machina, has warned those circulating rumour that the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, is planning to appeal the ruling of the Federal High Court on the outcome of the party’s primary election to desist.
Recall that Senator Lawan had insisted that he was the rightful APC Senatorial candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District in the 2023 election.
However, in a ruling on September 28, Justice Fadima Aminu of the Federal High Court sitting Damaturu, Yobe State Capital ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and publish the name of Machina as the candidate of the party.
But an undisclosed source had alleged that the Senate President was planning to appeal the ruling of the Federal High Court.
The source was quoted in a report as saying, “The anti-Machina group headed by the Chief of Staff to the governor who also headed the voided June 9 senatorial primary poll is shopping for another lawyer to file the appeal as they are not satisfied with the performance of Ahmad Raji at the Federal High Court.”
However, in a statement by his media aide, Ola Awoniyi, Lawan denied any plan to appeal the judgment, saying that “It is just another fabrication” and “For the umpteenth time, we want to emphasize that the Senate President has no intention to appeal against the court judgment.”
Reacting to the persisting rumour of Lawan’s alleged plan to appeal the court judgment, the Machina Campaign Organisation in a statement by its spokesperson, Husaini Mohammed Isa, warned the purveyors of the rumour to desist and stop crying more than the bereaved over the matter that had been resolved.
The statement read, “Since the landmark judgment delivered by the Federal High Court, Damaturu on the suit between Yobe North APC senatorial candidate, Bashir Sheriff Machina and Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, it appears to us that some individuals have turned the case to a business venture which they want it to continue to flourish at the expense of unity of the Party.
“Unless they are striving for self-destruct, we wondered why these individuals are keeping the court judgment to heart even when the principal beneficiary of the case had already accepted the verdict and moved on.
“Ahmad Lawan is a bold democrat we all respect in APC. He has publicly announced his decision not to appeal the judgment, rather than tarnishing his image with fraudulent appeal, we expect these merchants to drive the course of genuine reconciliation among Party members instead of trying to damage the reputation of the Senate President by telling the world that he cannot honour his words.
“As a Campaign Organisation, we view the action of these individuals as crying more than the bereaved. It is another sign of weakness on the part of the State chapter of the Party to accept every registered member of APC as its son without discrimination.
“Bashir Machina's strong stand on proper things to be done particularly in the nomination of candidates is an attribute that continues to endear him to the people, and this should never be sacrificed on the slap of bitter politics under any circumstance.
“The funniest part of the matter is the obvious fact that one of those fanning the embers of disunity in Yobe politics is not even an indigene of the State, he is from a far North-central State. This with all sincerity is a typical example of an outsider weeping more than the bereaved.
“For the sake of clarity, we are more than convinced that the decision of the lower court cannot be upturned by any right-thinking judge in Nigeria, because the question they should be asking themselves is, can there be more than one valid primary election for the same position?
“While we will no longer dignify any provocative statement with response, we appeal to those who are aggrieved to approach the higher court for redress just like they intended. Our team of excellent lawyers is ever ready to teach them a lesson that they will live to regret.”