By Deborah Onyofufeke
The Court of Appeal, Abuja has affirmed Bashir Machina as the authentic All Progressives Congress senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

The President, the Court of  Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a 3-man panel, gave the judgment on Monday in an appeal by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, who challenged the decision of the federal High court, Damaturu.

Recall that, Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court Damaturu, had on September 28, 2022, declared Machina as the winner of the primary election organised by the APC in May 2022, while Lawan opted to contest the presidential primary election organised by the APC in June.

Justice Aminu in her judgement nullified the parallel primary election that produced Lawan on June 9, 2022. Consequently, ordered the APC to forward the name of Machina to INEC as the authentic winner of the primary held in May.

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Lawan on the other hand lost the APC presidential ticket to former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu.

This led to Machina being asked to step down for Lawan which he refuted and insisted that he would not withdraw for the Senate President.

In the face of the controversy, the APC submitted the Senate President’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

Aggrieved by the move, Machina headed to court to seek redress, requesting the court to declare him as the valid elected senatorial candidate of the APC for the 2023 election.