Posted by Simon Lalong, Minister of Labour and Employment, has been proclaimed the winner of the Plateau South senatorial district by the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal in Jos, Plateau State.
The decision was announced on Monday by the chairman of the three-member panel, Justice Mahmoud Tukur, who claimed that the votes cast for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Napoleon Bali in the February 25 election were squandered.
The judge ruled that the PDP candidate was invalidly nominated, proclaiming Lalong, the state’s immediate past governor who ran on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the winner of the election.
According to the justices, the PDP had no valid structure in the state at the time of the nomination.
The panel also concluded that candidates who petitioned the court for over-voting and noncompliance with electoral laws could not verify their claims.
In a separate decision, the court dismissed the PDP member representing the Barkin-Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency and proclaimed Labour Party (LP) candidate Dalyop Chollom the winner.
The tribunal decided that Peter Gyenden of the PDP was not lawfully nominated since his party lacked a valid organization in the state at the time of his nomination.