The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has affirmed Bashir Machina, as the winner of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the Yobe North Senatorial district ahead of the 2023 general elections.
A certified copy of INEC’s report from the May 28, 2022 election showed that Machina scored 289 votes out of 300 delegates, corroborating the politician’s public claim that he won the primary and legally emerged candidate.
The document, certified by the electoral office on June 23, 2022, did not mention Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President, who has been laying claim to the ticket in collusion with the party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu.
Adamu had listed Lawan as the candidate of the APC for Yobe North senatorial election slated for February 2023, claiming that a primary had secretly held in which Lawan purportedly emerged winner.
Lawan started making attempts to seize the ticket from Machina after losing at the ruling party’s presidential primary election, which was won by Bola Tinubu on June 8.
