Simon Lalong, the Minister of Labor and Employment, tendered his resignation last week to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, signalling his intention to reclaim his senatorial seat, which the electoral body declared to have been lost in Plateau State. However, Lalong pursued the case in the appellate court, which eventually ruled in his favour, declaring him the rightful winner of the Plateau South Senate seat.
The former Plateau governor, Simon Lalong, has obtained the certificate of return for his senatorial seat victory, leaving him with the decision of terminating his appointment with the executive branch or continuing to serve in both capacities. Now that the executive has appended his approval, Lalong proceeds with serving in the capacity of Plateau South Senate seat after the nullification of Air Vice Marshal Napoleon Bali’s election from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
During his visit to the INEC Headquarters in Abuja, Lalong was accompanied by his family, his wife, and children, as well as other government officials and party members such as Deputy Speaker Idris Wase, federal constituency representative John Dafaan, APC Deputy National Secretary Festus Faunter, Plateau House of Assembly Minority Leader Joe Bukar, and several others who holds influential positions in the political landscape.
However, Simon Lalong still has to decide to leave his appointment as Minister of Labor and Employment for the Plateau senate seat to pursue his political ambitions at the state level. So far, this has raised concern as to whether he plans to retain both positions or ultimately choose one over the other since the cabinet has not made the new minister of labour and employment public. As a result, there is uncertainty about how he will balance his political ambitions and his responsibilities as the new Minister of Labor and Employment.