‘The winner of the APC primary election for Yobe North senatorial zone and APC senatorial candidate for the zone, Bashir Machina should stay the course in his fight to secure his mandate. He could rewrite Nigeria’s political history and can well be the hero of Nigeria’s democracy’
When the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ruffled feathers and created a state of electoral confusion by forwarding the name of Senator Ahmad Lawan who never participated in the senatorial primary election for Yobe North, was said to have purchased the form (which is alleged to be backdated) for senatorial primaries but never filled or submitted it or ever screened for the election in place of the winner of the election Bashir Machina, the ruling party has established one thing: APC tickets are acquired by either allocation, inheritance or both.
Sen Ahmad Lawan never participated in the APC senatorial primary election for Yobe North, was not screened for the election, yet the APC NWC unapologetically forwarded his name to the independent national electoral commission (INEC) as its flagbearer for the election. This is indeed insipid and an electoral absurdity that runs counter to not only the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria CFRN 1999 (as amended) and the 2010 electoral act (as altered) but also to logic and commonsense. It can best be described as daylight robbery.
Is the APC NWC trying to hand over victory for Yobe North senate seat in the 2023 elections to the opposition PDP on a platter of Gold as it did in Zamfara and Rivers states in the 2019 elections? Pray not!
It beggars belief that in this era of the INEC’s ‘rule of law’ mantra and ‘due process’ and to abide by the provisions of the electoral act in all electoral processes, the APC could summon courage to rape the 1999 constitution and the electoral act 2010’in one fell swoop and forward the name of a person who never participated in the primary election and was never screened for the election.
The Ahmad Lawan camp knows full well that he is not the rightful flagbearer hence they resorted to lobbying and begging the winner Bashir Machina to step down and withdraw from the race for Ahmad Lawan to grab the ticket effortlessly. They know they don’t have a case hence they resorted to lobbying. It was reported that they first lobbied the Yobe state governor Mai Mala Buni to speak to Machina to withdraw and when that failed, they tried to get President Buhari to talk to and pursued Machina to step down but in his characteristic ‘non-interference’ disposition, the President opted to allow the law to prevail and INEC to do its job.
The whole world is looking up to INEC to stop this fraud just as every Nigerian who wishes well for the nation is waiting to see Bashir Machina’s name on the ballot as the senatorial candidate for Yobe North in the 2023 elections. The INEC chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu has a date with history, can write his name in gold and leave a lasting legacy by ensuring that justice is not only served but seen to be served and Machina’s name is on the ballot.
Dummimisation of candidates is a form of election rigging that has been invented by Nigerian politicians and has the potentials to destroy our democracy.
Bashir Machina has so far refused to step down for anybody including Ahmad Lawan and all of us who desire change and wish our dear country Nigeria well, salute his (Machina’s) courage and steadfastness.
How could Ahmad Lawan who never participated in the election, was said to have purchased a form which is alleged to be backdated and was never screened for the contest be an ‘overnight candidate’ for the election? Is it because he is the ‘senate President’ or because he is friends with the APC national chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu who happens to be a senator under Lawan as senate President? Is it because of the powers Ahmad Lawan wields as the ‘senate President’ and top APC decision-maker that the senatorial ticket was allocated to him by extra-judicial fiat?
When will our dear country Nigeria learn from its past mistakes? When are we going to start doing the right thing instead of playing the ostrich? Sen Ahmad lawan has been in the National Assembly for 16 years and counting. That was when some of us folks were either in or leaving school. Must he be at the National Assembly forever? If yes, how will the younger ones get their chance to go to the senate?
The questions are many but this one still needs asking ‘Does it hold that if one contests for the Presidency and didn’t make it somehow, he is entitled to a ticket for a lower role? If that’s the case then the APC owes yours truly two tickets having contested for the Presidency in 2019 and 2022 but didn’t get to the finish line.
