The former Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Bako Lalong, has been sworn in as Senator representing the southern Senatorial zone of Plateau state.
The oath of office was administered on Lalong by the immediate-past minister of labour and employment, on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.
Former Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong has been sworn in as the Senator representing Plateau South Senatorial District. pic.twitter.com/5wjpsBxYX5
— TVC News (@tvcnewsng) December 20, 2023
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.
The Herald recalls that 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.