Tribunal sacks PDP senator, declares ex-Gov Lalong winner of Plateau South election

The National and State Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos, Plateau State, on Monday declared former governor Simon Lalong as the duly elected senator for Plateau South district.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on February 27 declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Napoleon Bali, as the winner of the election ahead of Lalong who is the current minister of labour and employment.

But in its ruling, the three-member panel led by Justice Mahmoud Tukur nullified the PDP candidate’s victory in the election over an invalid nomination.

READ ALSO: Northern governors didn’t push for power shift to South because of Tinubu – Lalong

The panel held that Bali’s votes in the February 25 election were wasted votes as he was not properly nominated by his party.

However, the tribunal ruled that the petitioners could not prove the over-voting and non-compliance with the electoral act in the conduct of the election by INEC.

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