Bashir Sheriff Machina, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Yobe North senatorial district, met with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate, on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, in Abuja.
Machina, who won the APC primary election, has been under pressure to drop his senatorial ambitions in favour of the incumbent, Senator Ahmad Lawan.
Lawan, who is the Senate President, is representing the senatorial district for the third time.
He participated in the APC presidential primary election and lost to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The leadership of the APC has been persuading Machina to withdraw from the race and allow Lawan, who didn’t participate in the senatorial primary, to represent the party in the general election.
Lawan’s name has been forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the party leadership. However, INEC rejected Lawan’s nomination, saying that it could only be accepted if Machina voluntarily withdraws from the race and a fresh primary election is conducted.
Machina visited Tinubu on Wednesday, and sought the blessing of the presidential candidate for his election.
After Tinubu was declared the winner of the APC presidential primary in June 2022, the said Lawan, who was initially named as the party’s consensus candidate, should lick his wounds.