The All Progressives Congress Yobe North Senatorial District candidate in the 2023 general elections, Bashir Sheriff Machina, has said he will not step down for anyone because he won the election after being qualified for it.

Machina said this in an interview with Daily Trust, while referring to Senator Ahmad Lawan, the current Senate Presdient, who lost the just concluded presidential primary election, and is trying to get back into the senate.

The Yobe candidate, Machina, said he won the senatorial ticket of the party on a clean slate and could not relinquish it to Lawan.

SaharaReporters reported on Monday that Lawan is on the verge of suffering two losses within a week as the winner of the Yobe North APC senatorial primary, Machina, refused to step down for him.

In an interview, Machina said,

As far as I’m concerned, I contested for the Yobe North senatorial ticket and I won the election. I was confirmed elected because there were other contestants but I was the one that was qualified. I happened to be unopposed.

I am still the candidate; I have not withdrawn and I will not withdraw for anybody. I am being approached by some persons but I will not withdraw, Insha Allah.

Also confirming Machina’s resolve, one of his loyalists, Hussaini Mohammed Isa, said that there are a lot of pressure on his boss to hand over the Senatorial ticket to Senator Lawan.

Isa described it as unfair, for some leaders of the party to mount such pressure on Machina to relinquish a victory he worked hard for.

Meanwhile, Saleh Mohammed and other supporters of Senator Lawan insisted that the senate president was the best performing senator the zone ever had, and therefore, they preferred that he continued to represent the senatorial district.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.