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Lawan vs Machina: Constitutional Lawyer Faults Supreme Court Judgement

The President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan's emergence as the senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North has got Nigerians talking.

In a majority decision on Monday, the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Appeal Court, Gombe Division, that had earlier declared Bashir Machina as the senatorial candidate.

In his reaction, constitutional lawyer, Liborous Oshoma said the judgement has set a bad precedent and shown that there is no hope in the law for the common man.

As Oshoma examined the decision on Morning Crossfire with Sheriff Quadry, he said any issues the Supreme Court had with Machina's candidacy shouldn't be enough to void his candidacy since the primary that produced him was not canceled. 

He also pointed out that the judgement was a split decision and not unanimous, which means all the judges did not agree with it.

In his opinion, this hints at foul play.

Recall that Senate President, Ahmad Lawan lost the APC presidential ticket to the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. 

Machina was, thereafter, asked to step down for Lawan, but he insisted he wouldn't.

In the face of the controversy, APC submitted the Senate President’s name to INEC as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North. Not satisfied with the decision of his party, Machina headed to court to seek redress.


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