Injustice: 'S’Court judgement on Machina vs Lawal'
Federal Supreme Court of Nigeria, Abuja. By Ise-Oluwa Ige In this piece, Ise-Oluwa Ige examines the background facts of the lawsuit filed by Mr. Bashir Sheriff Machina at the Damaturu Division of the Federal High Court to challenge the decision by the All Progressives Congress, APC to forward the name of a presidential aspirant, Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan to INEC as its candidate for the February 25, 2023 Yobe North Senatorial election when he never participated in the party’s primary poll, reviews lawyers’ views on the law applicable to the facts of the case and the logic in the majority decision entered by the apex bench and argues that the Supreme Court decision in the instant case not only stood logic on its head but also portrays the apex bench as a court under amnesia for elevating technicalities over substantive justice in the instant case as against its 2007 precedent in Amaechi vs Omehia’s pre-election case. Introduction By a split judgement of three to two, a five-member pan...