ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja declaring Bashir Machina as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North Senatorial District, was upheld by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday.
The APC had approached the appellate court, insisting Ahmad Lawan, Nigeriaās Senate President, was the authentic Senatorial candidate for Yobe North in next yearās election, therefore prayed the appellate Court to set aside the judgment of lower court.
Mr. Lawan after losing out in the APC presidential primary election in June, sought to clinch the partyās senatorial ticket to return to the upper legislative chamber in 2023.
However, the Senate President did not participate in the original APC Yobe North primary held on 28 May, because he was contesting to be the partyās presidential candidate.
Since he failed to secure his partyās nod to run for president, Mr. Lawal tried to reclaim the partyās ticket for Yobe North, a district he has represented since 2007.
Delivering judgement on Monday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja led by Monica Dongban-Mensem, who is the president of the court, held that the appeal was an abuse of court process.
Mrs. Dongban-Mensem said: “The 1st respondent (Machina) remains the Appellant (APCās) candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.
āThe lower court was right when it held that the purported primary election held on 9 June was not monitored by INEC.
āI find that the lower court properly evaluated all the issues raised before it. Therefor, all the issues are resolved against the appellant.”
Dismissing the appeal, the appellate court awarded N1 million against the APC in favour of Mr Machina.
The panel condemned the conduct of parallel primaries by political parties.
Mrs Dongban-Mensem citing Section 84 (1) of Electoral Act said, āThe law is designed to check political partiesā act of impunity in the conduct of parallel primaries.ā
On the other hand, the APCās lawyer, Shuaib Aruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) had argued that the Yobe Senatorial primary of 28 May where Mr Machina emerged was conducted by the Yobe Chapter of the APC and not by the National Working Committee.
He argued that the other primary held on 9 June was conducted by the APC NWC, and as such has the blessings of the party.
But Counsel to Mr. Machina, Ibrahim Bawa (SAN), urged the Court of Appeal to dismiss the suit for lacking in merit.
Despite Machinaās victory at the 28 May primary election, the leadership of the APC submitted Lawanās name as candidate for the district, Premium Times reports.
Determined to sustain his candidacy for the election, Mr. Machina filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Damaturu, paryed the court to declare him as the authentic candidate of the APC.
Meanwhile, INEC had refused to recognize either Mr Lawal or Mr Machina as the authentic candidate.
The electoral body however, insisted that it would only recognize the candidate the court rules was the authentic candidate of the party for the district.