The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has said that Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, participated in the senatorial primary election for Yobe North senatorial district.
Adamu said this when he lead the Ekiti State governor-elect, Biodun Oyebanji, and others on a courtesy visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
“We are not in the speculative world. We are governed by the laws of the land. There’s nothing our presidential candidate has done concerning returning his forms that is not within the confines of the law of the land.
“Everything we’ve done so far we have done very carefully with legal consultation and we are cocksure, we’re not going to have the kind of speculation that you are professing at this point.
We’re very comfortable with what we have done. It is still pessimistic”
On why he was at the State House, he said, “We are here essentially, to present His Excellency, the President Muhammadu Buhari, the newest member of the governors’ family, the governor-elect of Ekiti State, whose election you all witnessed just last Saturday some 48 hours ago. We brought him to meet Mr. President, and we do so with gratitude to the Almighty God for making victory our lot.
“I want to share with you our gratitude for the mammoth support that the party received and the support we got from your brothers, who are members of the Fourth Estate in the course of preparations for the election and during the elections and post-election.”
On the crisis in the Adamawa APC senatorial confusion concerning the position of Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, the APC national chairman said no law stops Lawan from participating in two primaries – the presidential and the senatorial.
Lawan, he said, participated in the senatorial primaries to go back to the senate.
This is contrary to the speculation that the Senate President did not participate in the senatorial primaries but his name was submitted to the INEC as a candidate.
Asked if Lawan participated in the senatorial primaries, he said, “Go and find out from the person who is responsible for organising the primary. I have done my bit. I do know in my honour that he did participate within the timeline.”
He advised journalists not to get themselves in a court of law.
“I don’t have time for negativity, I don’t just have time for that. If you face me with positives, I have time for all of that. I will stand here and answer all of your questions.
“I cannot respond to every speculation particularly when they are negative. Especially when they are mischief makers.”
Reminded that the President of the Senate only contested for the presidential primary, he said, “Is there any law that says when you contest an election and lose, you shouldn’t contest another one?”
It would be recalled that Lawan’s opponent in the senatorial election, Bashir Machina, has claimed that his name had been substituted for that of the senate president.
“I must say I felt disappointed because I never thought that someone like Lawan would allow himself to be used for such an unconstitutional action,” Machina said.
He added, “Removing my name from that list is very undemocratic, illegal, and inhumane. I wasn’t even consulted before the decision was made. And it’s a known fact that Lawan did not contest a senatorial seat, he contested for the APC presidential primaries and he lost.”
In Akwa Ibom State, candidate of the APC for Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial district in the 2023 general election, Udom Ekpoudom, a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), also vowed that he would not relinquish the senatorial district ticket he won on May 27 to Senator Godswill Akpabio or anyone, under any circumstances.
