The Supreme Court has affirmed Ahmad Lawan, Nigeria’s senate president, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Yobe North district.

The apex court allowed the appeal filed by the APC against Bashir Machina’s candidature in a majority judgment delivered on Monday.

Lawan will serve as the APC senatorial candidate in the place of Bashir Machina, the former APC candidate for Yobe North senatorial district.

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“The bedrock of the suit shows that there were allegations of fraudulent practices against the appellants,” the Supreme Court judge said.

“That the 1st respondent accused the APC of fraudulently substituting his name with that of Lawan.

“Where there is an allegation of fraud, it should not be commenced by an originating summons.

“There was a need to call witnesses to prove allegations of fraud.”

Lawan participated in the APC presidential primaries in June 2022 but lost to Bola Tinubu. Machina had previously participated and won in the APC primaries for Yobe North senatorial candidature.

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The APC asked Machina to step down for Lawan who did not participate in the APC primaries for the senatorial primaries, but he refused.

The party submitted Lawan’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the candidate for Yobe North. Machina protested against this, and INEC decided against listing any candidate for the APC in Yobe North.

A federal high court in Damaturu, Yobe State capital, ordered the APC and INEC to recognise Machina as the rightful candidate in September 2022. An Abuja appeal court also affirmed Machina’s position in November 2022.