President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, administered the oath of office to Barr. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was elected as the Senator for Kogi Central Senatorial District, making her the first female senator from Kogi State.
The oath-taking ceremony took place at 11:41 a.m on Thursday and was officiated by the Senate Clerk.
Natasha’s election victory was confirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which presented her with a Certificate of Return. This followed a legal battle that culminated in the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, upholding her as the rightful winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial Election held in February.
In September, the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal in Lokoja nullified the victory of Senator Abubakar Ohere in the same election, declaring Akpoti-Uduaghan as the legitimate winner. Despite Ohere’s efforts to challenge the decision in the appellate court, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s victory was upheld.
The appellate court’s ruling affirmed the Tribunal’s judgment, stating that the PDP candidate secured 54,354 lawful votes, while Ohere of the APC received 51,291 votes.Natasha was administered the oath by the Clerk of the Senate at exactly 11:41 a.m on Thursday.
This makes Natasha the first female senator from Kogi State.
This followed her presentation with Certificate of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the duly elected Senator for Kogi Central.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, upheld Akpoti-Uduaghan as the duly elected candidate in the Kogi Central Senatorial Election held earlier in February.
In September, the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lokoja had nullified the victory of senatator Abubakar Ohere as the winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial Election.
The court further declared Akpoti-Uduaghan as the actual winner of the February senatorial poll.
Though, Ohere had headed to the appellate court to seek redress but the court further upheld Akpoti-Uduaghan as the winner of the poll.
Her opponent and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Ohere, had challenged her electoral victory at the lower court where he lost and went on to challenge this at the appellate court.
The appellate court, in its ruling, upheld the earlier judgment of the Tribunal, which declared the PDP candidate as the authentic senator of Kogi Central with lawful votes of 54,354 while Ohere APC scored 51,291 votes.
