The European Union Election Observation Mission has strongly criticised the Supreme Court, maintaining that it has tarnished its public perception by reinstating former Senate President Ahmad Lawan to the upper legislative chamber, despite his non-participation in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the EU highlighted the Supreme Court’s decision as a significant factor contributing to the negative perception surrounding the court.
The organisation made this comment in its recently released final report titled ‘Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2023’.
The report stated, “The Nigerian Supreme Court continues to maintain a negative perception after reinstating Senator Ahmed Lawan, who never participated in primaries for the Senate. The high court and appeal court judgments were against this.”
Recall that during the Senate’s valedictory session, Rochas Okorocha took a jibe at Mr. Lawan regarding the circumstances surrounding his return to the Senate without having duly participated in the APC’s senatorial primary.
Mr. Okorocha humorously remarked, “I did not contest for the Senate this period. I only contested for the office of the president. You are a very smart politician. How you came back to the Senate is another chapter in our political history that we need to discuss.”
He further quipped, “I was there in the field with you running for president. I never knew how you were able to meander, leaving some of us. Next time you must teach me how to do that.”
It should be recalled that initially, Mr. Lawan had sought the presidential ticket of the ruling party, but after being defeated by Bola Tinubu, he attempted to secure the senatorial ticket in his district.
The Supreme Court’s ruling that brought in Lawan emerged from a political battle between Mr. Lawan and his political ally Bashir Machina, who refused to relinquish the APC ticket for the Yobe North senatorial district.
However, Mr. Machina, the rightful winner of the Yobe North senatorial ticket, stood his ground, refusing to surrender it under any circumstances. To remove Mr. Machina and support Mr. Lawan, the APC urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to adopt the former Senate president as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North in the 2023 elections.
Eventually, on February 6, 2023, the controversial ruling by the Supreme Court went in favour of Mr. Lawan.
