Machina floors Lawan and seeks reconciliation in the Senate ticket

The All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission were compelled to recognize Bashir Machina as the party's candidate for the Yobe North senatorial seat by the Federal High Court in Damaturu on Wednesday.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Justice Fadimatu Aminu ordered the APC to declare Machina the legitimate victor of the party's primary poll, which was held in the district on May 28.

She claimed that because INEC failed to oversee the poll, the "phantom June 9 primary election" that resulted in Ahmed Lawan, the president of the Senate, as the victor and candidate, was a "nullity."

The argument that the case was statute-barred was also rejected by Justice Aminu, who noted that the cause of action arose on June 17 rather than May 28.

According to the judgment, when Machina, the plaintiff, learned that the first defendant, the APC, had submitted Lawan's name to INEC as its candidate, he went to the court.
Therefore, she claimed that the constitutional requirement that the complaint be filed within 14 days after the election was irrelevant.

References 

[1] Punch, Senate ticket: Machina floors Lawan, seeks reconciliation (online, 2022) https://punchng.com/senate-ticket-machina-floors-lawan-seeks-reconciliation/