The hope of Senate President, Ahmed Lawan returning to the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly is precariously hanging in the balance. This is due to the refusal of Alhaji Bashir Sheriff Machina, the current holder of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Yobe North senatorial ticket, to step down.
Machina had won the APC North senatorial ticket at the party’s recently conducted primary election which held in Gashua, the Yobe State capital earlier this May 28. He had reportedly polled 289 votes at the primary election in which he was the sole candidate.
Having contested and lost the APC presidential primaries, Lawan had hoped to regain the Yobe North ticket from its current holder through some in-house political arrangement.
However, in what looks like a sudden twist to the ensuing drama, Machina stoutly refused to step down and even went further to write the party’s national office on his determination to carry on with his mandate. With this latest move, the Lawan’s camp has been thrown into some confusion which if unresolved, may hurt the Senate President’s ability to return to the upper legislative chamber in 2023.
It was further gathered that Lawan is currently using the powers-that-be in both the APC headquarters and the Presidency to mount pressure on Machina to step down for him so as not to put his political future in jeopardy.