There are indications that Senator Simon Lalong might be recalled from the Nigerian Senate by his constituents soon.
Senator Napoleon Bali who represented Plateau South from July to October 2023 before he was sacked by the Court of Appeal is reportedly leading the campaign against Lalong.
Senator Bali’s expulsion from the Senate paved the way for Lalong who resigned as the minister of labour and productivity to occupy the seat.
Recall that the Supreme Court judgment that upheld the election of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, chided the Appeal Court for sacking some Plateau lawmakers, including Senator Bali.
Senator Bali, speaking with Daily Times on the issue said their legal team is weighing various options including going back to the court to explore any window to remedy the injustice done to them or live with it for the next three years and the option of recalling those brought to office by the Appeal Court judgment.
Bali said although he has not gone to his Plateau South senatorial district recently, he has it on good authority that the constituents are collecting signatures to recall Senator Lalong.
Lalong was the governor of Plateau State from 2015 to 2023, contested for Plateau South senatorial seat on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), but lost woefully to Bali of the PDP. He was the Director General of Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Organisation.
President Bola Tinubu appointed Lalong as the Minister of Labour and Employment before the CA sacked Napoleon Bali and declared him as the duly elected senator representing Plateau South. He was sworn in as senator on December 20, 2023.
However, the days of Lalong in the Senate may be numbered as plans are in advanced stage by his constituents in Plateau South to recall him.
Senator Bali said: “What the people of Plateau South senatorial district are saying ii that they will not allow him. I don’t know what they want to do, but I was told reliably that people are already gathering signatures that they must recall him.
“This time around we are going to test INEC and the judiciary that installed him again because that is the option we are sure of.
“Like I said, our lawyers are making all efforts to see whether there is a window. I’m not a lawyer; I don’t know how they are going to do it, but the one I’m very sure is that all those the CA collected our mandates wrongfully as concluded by the justices of the Supreme Court, we are definitely going to recall them. When? I will not tell you because it will just come to them as a rude shock.
“For the specifics, I can tell you that in Plateau South, I know that they have gathered over 300,000 signatures to recall Lalong already. That is already in the public domain. He is aware, his party the APC is aware. By the time we get the required signature, i.e. 50 per cent of the total registered voters, we have the INEC current register; I will not tell you because we keep that one close to our chest.
“As soon as we get the 50 per cent, we are going to write a petition and our lawyers will follow up from there to tell INEC to verify. Once that is done, INEC will have no option but to conduct a referendum and we take it up from there.”
If I were him, I would have resigned honourably after the supreme court judgment. First, he didn’t get majority votes. Second, the supreme court judgment has declared appeal court judgment as injustice.