Machina ran and clinched the Yobe North senatorial slot after Lawan went on an adventure for the APC presidential ticket.
This may be the last time Senate President Ahmad Lawan would represent the people of Yobe North in the parliament.
Recall that Lawan contested the APC presidential ticket while his ally, Bashir Machina, was a placeholder for him.
After Lawan failed at the APC presidential primary, he allegedly wanted Machina to relinquish the ticket to him, but the man refused.
In a letter to the APC national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, dated June 13, Machina said: “I write to reaffirm that I remain committed to the mandate which I won at the primaries, and I have not in any form or manner communicated otherwise.”
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Machina said he scored 289 out of 300 votes cast by delegates at primaries and vowed not to cede his mandate to Lawan or anyone else.
“I have been informed of a purported malicious; and mischievous report and insinuation to the contrary. I never at any time signed or communicated any intent…to vacate the mandate, which was won at the primaries.
“I am totally committed to my mandate and am working towards delivering Yobe North Senatorial District to our great party,” he said.
Lawan has been a lawmaker since the start of the Fourth Republic in 1999. He was first elected to House of Representatives in 1999, then won election as a senator in 2003 and became Senate President in 2019.