Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed Bashir Machina as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe north senatorial district.

Machina, at a primary organised by the party in May, had won unopposed.

However, there were speculations that he was being asked to step down for Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who currently represents the district.

But Machina had insisted that he would not withdraw for Lawan — the senate president had contested the APC presidential ticket but lost.

Amid the controversy, the APC submitted Lawan’s name to INEC as its senatorial candidate for Yobe north, and Abdullahi Adamu, APC national chairman, had said the senate president contested a senatorial primary organised by the party.

Adamu had also warned Machina over his comments on the party’s senatorial ticket for the district.

However, on Friday, an INEC report surfaced online, in which Machina was confirmed as having won the APC senatorial primary for Yobe north after he polled 289 votes unopposed.

The document was signed and stamped with the date, June 23, 2022.

Confirming the genuineness of the document to TheCable, Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, said the document is from the commission.

“It’s our document,” he told TheCable.

According to the document, the primary, which held on May 28, was monitored by INEC officials and security agents and was done via open-secret ballot.

The result of the exercise was also said to have been “generally acccepted”.

The Cable