The Supreme Court, on Monday, Feb. 6, affirmed Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Yobe north.
The apex court, in a majority judgment filed by the APC against Bashir Machina’s candidature, voided and set aside judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the latter as the candidate, having won the May 28, 2022 primary unopposed.
Lawan never participated in the APC primary held on May 28, 2022, as he withdrew voluntarily to participate in the presidential primary held on June 8 of the same year.
After losing the presidential ticket to the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC asked Machina to step down for Lawan.
Despite insisting that he would not withdraw for the Senate President, the APC on Jun. 9, held another primary to produce Lawan without notifying INEC. The party later submitted Lawan’s name to the electoral empire as its candidate.
Not pleased with the development, Machina went to a Federal High Court where he was declared as the right candidate for the party. APC appealed the matter but the Court dismissed the case for being incompetent and unmeritorious.
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The Supreme Court, however, held that Lawan is the senatorial candidate of the APC in Yobe north.
Battabox understands that this case is one of many instances where Court judgments have been used to truncate the choice of electorates.
While Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as “the government of the people, by the people, for the people”, Nigeria’s fragile democracy is fast becoming “government by the judges”.
In 2020, a controversial decision of the Supreme Court on January 14 removed Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State and replaced him with Hope Uzodinma, who, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) came fourth in the governorship election.
In 2007, the Supreme Court also made Rotimi Amaechi governor of Rivers State despite not running in the year’s governorship elections. The argument of the Court then was that Amaechi won his party’s primary and should have been the party’s candidate in the election.
Meanwhile, Lord Jonathan Sumption, a retired Judge of the UK Supreme Court, in his BBC Reith lectures warned that “the principles of consent and legitimacy that underpin representative democracy should not be eroded by judicial processes.”
In reaction to the case between Lawan and Machina, a constitutional lawyer, Jibola Alimi, told Battabox that “while the decision of the supreme court may not represent the core tenets of democracy, it is the law and can only be set aside by the same supreme court.”
He said Machina’s case was thrown out on technical grounds. Meanwhile, Alimi fears that many election winners may be determined by the Court in the future and may frustrate the will of the electorates.
“Judicial activism may be eroding democratic legitimacy in Nigeria as we’re witnessing Court-made governors and legislators.”
