The National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos, Plateau State, has declared a former governor of the state, Simon Lalong, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the duly elected person for Plateau South senatorial district.

Chairman of the three-member panel, Justice Mahmoud Tukur held that the votes scored by the PDP candidate, Napoleon Bali, in the February 25 election were wasted votes as he was invalidly nominated.

The unanimous Monday judgment held that as of the time of the nomination, the PDP had no valid structure in the state. On the other grounds of over-voting and non-compliance with the electoral laws, the panel ruled that the petitioners could not prove the allegations.