Governor Simon Lalong
Senate president Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday, December 20, swore in a former governor of Plateau state and minister of labour and employment, Simon Lalong, as the senator representing Plateau South.
The Court of Appeal had declared Lalong as a validly elected lawmaker to represent Plateau South senatorial district.
Lalong had on Tuesday, December 19, formally resigned from the Federal Executive Council as minister.
The Clerk to the Senate, Chinedu Akubueze administered the oath of office and oath of allegiance on Lalong on the directives of the Senate president.
He took the oath of office at about 11.57 am on the floor of the Senate.
Akpabio immediately congratulated and shook hands with Lalong, a former Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council during the 2023 presidential poll that produced President Bola Tinubu.
Lalong, who is also a former speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, had tendered his resignation to President Tinubu earlier on Tuesday.
Speaking after his inauguration, Lalong said he actually longed to be a senator after his tenure as governor in May 2023.
He said: “This was my first choice, to be candid.”
According to him, he opted to hold the position of a minister in the interim and on the invitation of Tinubu because he had a case he was pursuing at the courts.
Lalong promised to do his best to serve his electorate to his human abilities.
The national chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje was at the Senate Chamber to witness Lalong’s swearing-in.
Ganduje described the event as a moment of happiness.
He said: “This is a moment of happiness. We are so happy that he won at the Court of Appeal.
“What Nigerians will expect is good legislation. As we know the APC has the majority and will work for the prosperity of all Nigerians.”
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, had on November, 7, upheld the judgment of the lower tribunal, which declared Lalong the winner of the Plateau-South Senatorial District election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) initially declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Napoleon Bali, as the winner.
Bali had scored 148,844 votes, while Lalong recorded 91,674, according to INEC.
But, Lalong challenged the result on the grounds that the PDP had no proper structure in the state on which a candidate could contest for an election.
