Yobe North Senatorial District candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashir Sheriff Machina, has maintained that he won’t surrender his ticket to Senate President, Ahmed Lawan despite the growing pressure.
Machina made this vow while speaking during an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York.
Recall that Lawan had joined the Presidential race ahead of 2023 in March but lost the primaries which was held at Eagles Square in Abuja to former Lagos Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
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Meamwhile, Machina who is now holding the ticket for Yobe North Senatorial District, revealed he’s been asked by members of the party if he is still in the race.
He, however, insisted that he is still in the race and has no plan to reliquish the ticket.
Machina said, ‘The pressure is more or less speculative. There wasn’t any clear-cut person or message directly that says I should step down but from the headquarters of my party (APC), recently I was informed that if I was still in the race, I should write formally to inform the party that I am.’
He confirmed that the letter that trended online was his response to the request from an unnamed caller from the national headquarters of the APC.
‘I formally wrote a letter to the party, reiterating and affirming my position, that I am still the candidate; that I did not withdraw, and I am not withdrawing, and I’m in the race in the event that anybody is contemplating or doubting that there is any move,’ he said.
When quizzed if the leadership of the APC asked him to step down for Lawan, Machina said, “No, I won’t step down because Ahmad Lawan did not contest for the Senate. Of course, it is a known fact that Ahmad Lawan contested for president and lost. And when I contested for Senate, Lawan did not participate (in the primary) or did not contest (for Senate). So, I don’t think that may be in any way an issue.”
When asked what he would do if the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), asked him to, Machina said the APC would not repeat the undemocratic tendencies in other parties for which the ruling party was created to end.