- The former governor had asked the tribunal to nullify the emergency of Bali being that the PDP did not have a proper party structure and therefore could not file candidates for the elections.
- The tribunal in the judgment read by Justice Muhammad Tukur declared in the negative the declaration of the PDP candidate as the winner saying the votes scored by the PDP candidate were wasted votes.
Simon Lalong, a former governor of Plateau state, has been sworn in as the senator representing Plateau south district.
The oath of office was administered on Lalong, immediate-past minister of labour and employment, on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Simon Macham, his media aide, disclosed that the former minister had tendered his resignation to President Bola Tinubu.
After he was sworn in, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the occasion was an “epoch-making achievement”.
“Let me congratulate Simon Lalong for this epoch- making achievement. Let me use this opportunity to recognise the greatest chairman of Africa for coming to grace the event,” he said.
In November, the court of appeal affirmed the judgment of a tribunal which declared Lalong as winner of the Plateau south senatorial contest.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Napoleon Bali, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner of the election with 148,844 votes.
However, after hearing the petition filed by Lalong and the All Progressives Congress (APC), the tribunal in Plateau annulled Bali’s election.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on September 11, the tribunal led by Muhammad Tukur, held that the PDP lacked the right to participate in the election.
More to follow…
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