The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the Minister of Labour, Simon Lalong, as the valid winner of the Plateau South Senatorial seat.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel led by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, on Tuesday, the appellate court dismissed as lacking in merit an appeal that was brought before it by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the election that was held on February 25, Napoleon Bali.
The court held that it found no reason to set aside the judgement of the Plateau State National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal, which had on September 11, declared Lalong who is the immediate past governor of the state, as the authentic winner of the senatorial contest.
According to the appellate court, evidence before it showed that Bali, who was declared the winner of the senatorial seat by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was not a bona fide candidate in the election.
The Plateau High Court had in 2022 ordered PDP to conduct elections for selection of officers for Wards, Local Governments and the State Chapter of the party which was not complied with.
The Court of Appeal said that disobedience and disregard to clear lawful order of court was fatal because PDP hurriedly put an illegal caretaker committee in place in utter confrontation to the court judgment.
Specifically, he appellate court held that PDP did not sponsor any candidate for the Plateau South Senatorial District because it was not qualified to stand for any election as at February 25, 2023 and subsequently upheld the declaration of Lalong as the lawful Senator for Plateau South Senatorial District having scored second highest votes at the election.
