Former Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr. Simon Lalong has been sworn in as senator representing Plateau South Senatorial District in the 10th National Assembly.
Mr. Lalong, accompanied to the swearing-in by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was administered the oath of office and allegiance at 11:57 am local time in the plenary presided over by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
After he was sworn in, Senator Akpabio described the occasion as an epoch-making achievement.
“Let me congratulate Simon Lalong for this epoch-making achievement. Let me use this opportunity to recognize the greatest Chairman of Africa for coming to grace the event,” he said.
Mr. Lalong had approached the tribunal challenging the declaration of the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Napoleon Bali, who the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC said scored 148,844 to Lalong’s 91,674.
The former governor had asked the tribunal to nullify the emergence of Mr. 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.
Mr. Bali headed to the Appeal Court headed by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, which ruled that despite the protestation from the PDP, the matter was both a pre-election and post-election matter and upheld the tribunal’s judgment.
The former governor was appointed Minister having served as Director General of Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council and led the council into power on February 25.
He resigned after the tribunal judgment to pick up the senatorial seat.
He spoke with newsmen shortly after he was sworn in on Wednesday.
“Actually this was my first choice after I left as governor, I started from being a legislator, I went to the executive and I wanted to go back again to the Senate.
“So, this is not something that is new to me. But while I was waiting for the mandate, Mr. President confided in me and brought me into the cabinet, but when I was in the cabinet, this one came, he (President) called me and said, remember your first choice was there, can you go there or you still want to stay, I said let me go for my first choice and he and the party accepted and released me to come here,” Mr. Lalong said.
Confidence Okwuchi
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