The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has revealed the steps he took in his bid to return to the Senate.
The Eagle Online recalls he was only confirmed as candidate of the All Progressives Congress just days to the poll.
The Eagle Online also recalls that the winner of the primaries of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District, Bashir Machina, refused to yield the ticket to Lawan, after the President of the Senate lost the presidential ticket of his party.
The face-off dragged until February 6, 2023 when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Lawan.
Speaking on how he returned to the Senate on Tuesday after plenary, Lawan said it took four days of rigorous fasting by the people of his Yobe North Senatorial District to reclaim his mandate in court and return to the Senate.
He said he owed his victory at the polls to his constituents who insisted that he should contest for the seventh consecutive time and continue to represent them in the 10th National Assembly.
He said it was true that he had accepted the verdict of the Federal High Court, Damaturu that gave the ticket to Machina and was not prepared to contest the ruling.
He however started that the people of Yobe North Senatorial District, the party at both the state and national levels, decided to challenge the court decision at the Supreme court, insisting that the choice of who takes the senatorial ticket of the party in the election was not his personal decision to make but that of the people and the party.
Attributing his election victory to God, Lawan expressed gratitude to the people and his party for finding him worthy to represent them for another four years.
Lawan, who attributed the success of the 9th National Assembly to the level of support and patriotism of his colleagues, said he will work even more assiduously with lawmakers in the 10th National Assembly and the executive arm of government to deliver credible leadership to the people.
He however rued the turn over rate of lawmakers as evident in the results so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission in the just-concluded National Assembly election, which he noted as the possibility of affecting the institutional memory of the National Assembly.
Lawan said: “You will recall that when the crisis about who will run for the Senate seat for Yobe North started, the matter was taken to court.
“At the Federal High Court, Damaturu, somebody else was given judgement and immediately, the following morning, I issued a statement signed by me that I accepted the judgement of the Federal High Court, Damaturu giving the Senate seat to somebody else and that I was not going to appeal the judgement and I meant it and I didn’t have any doubt about what I was doing.
“I was thoroughly convinced of what I was doing.
“But the people of Yobe North stood up in unison and in solidarity.
“They said that Senate seat for Yobe North is not my personal thing.
“It is their own.
“So while they respect my opinion and my right to say something that I said before, they wanted an appeal against the judgement.
“The party at the state level, APC, my party, took up the gauntlet.
“His Excellency, the Governor of Yobe State, also took up the gauntlet and the party at the national level, the APC headquarters, also took up the gauntlet and the party appealed.
“Of course, they lost at the Appeal Court.
“And at the Supreme Court, the judgement came in our favour.
“We thank the Almighty God for giving us the judgement because God has plans for all of us and there is a popular adage that ‘man proposes, God disposes’.
“While I was ready not to contest again because of my decision, God did not see it that way.
“ God look at the hearts of the most ordinary people that I represent.
“These people fasted on their own.
“The old people, women, in fact I joined in the fast when I saw the youths in the zone started fasting.
“They fasted for three or four days consecutively, just praying to God that we get judgement.
“And we got it.
“When I went home the following Saturday after the judgement, it was an emotional reunion between me and my constituents.
“Some were in tears of joy.
“And all through my over 20 years in the National Assembly and, with this one, seven contested elections consecutively, I have never seen a show of love like this one.
“And that is why I said I am going to carry this Congratulatory Card to Gashua to show my constituents.
“I campaigned for two days – Wednesday and Thursday.
“We didn’t have time.
“Even if we didn’t go out to campaign, people were already mobilised.
“The outcome of the election was the best I ever had because they voted more than at any other time for this 2023.
“”Yobe North people deserve every accolade.
“In fact, I need your prayers that I’m able to give them the kind of representation that will make them happy because they have made me and all my supporters quite happy.”