Lawan included in APC list of senatorial candidates instead of Machina

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has been listed as the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North senatorial district for the 2023 elections.

This comes hours after Bashir Machina, who won the APC primary for the district, made it clear he would not step down for the senate president.

Lawan had contested the APC presidential ticket and was announced by Abdullahi Adamu, APC national chairman, as the consensus candidate of the party.

However, the consensus decision was rejected by several party stakeholders — including members of the national working committee (NWC) — and Bola Tinubu, former Lagos governor, went on to win the party’s ticket at the primary which was concluded on June 8.

Speaking on Wednesday in an interview with Channels Television, Machina had insisted that he will not withdraw from the senatorial race since he got the votes of delegates in an unopposed election.

“I’m sure he did not plan to go back to the national assembly. That is why he contested for the presidency and lost. This is democracy. The space is free. A certain period of time was given for people to want to contest. Timetables were set, guidelines were produced by the parties, and eventually elections were held,” Machina had said.

But according to the signed list of candidates on Friday, Lawan is listed as the party’s candidate for Yobe north.

Meanwhile, neither the senate president nor Machina has reacted to the development.