The first female Senator from Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, was sworn in by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio on Thursday.
This comes after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presented her with a Certificate of Return as the duly elected senator.
She was administered the oath by the Clerk of the Senate at exactly 11:41 a.m.
Also read: Melaye Triumphs as Kogi PDP Governorship candidate
Akpoti-Uduaghan won the election on the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) platform.
The Election Petitions Tribunal had declared, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the PDP candidate, as the authentic Senator of Kogi Central with lawful votes of 54,354. Ohere of APC scored 51,291 votes.
The Kogi Central Senatorial Election was held earlier in February, and Akpoti-Uduaghan was declared the legitimate winner by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, earlier Tuesday.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Abubakar Ohere filed an appeal, but the court struck it out for lacking merit.
Read also: Breaking: Yahaya Bello Is Kogi Governor- Supreme Court Affirms
Ohere’s victory as the Kogi Central Senatorial Election winner was declared void in September by the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal, which sat in Lokoja.
Additionally, the court ruled that Akpoti-Uduaghan was the legitimate winner of the February 26 National Assembly elections.
Dissatisfied with the tribunal’s ruling, Ohere approached the Appeal Court to reclaim his mandate, but the appellate court affirmed Akpoti-Uduaghan’s victory in the poll.
Meanwhile, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has rejected Governor Yahaya Bello’s congratulatory message to her.
Bello had congratulated the former PDP governorship candidate after participating in the National Police Council meeting at the Presidential Villa Abuja on Tuesday.
He described Natasha as his sister, adding that it was necessary for him to accept the court verdict on Natasha’s victory to avoid a breakdown of law and order in the state.
However, Natasha, who appeared on Channels Television on Tuesday evening, accused the governor of having attempted to kill her on different occasions, insisting that the Kogi State helmsman does not know what democracy is about.
“I would pretty much wish you had not played the Governor’s message here because I’m just getting to watch it now,” she said.
“He said this is the beauty of politics, this is not the beauty of politics. You don’t endanger yourself, set out to kill people, destroy property and frustrate the electoral process because you want your candidate to win and call it the beauty of democracy.
“I heard guns; I had his henchmen shoot at my vehicle. I have video evidence of that. They wore APC shirts and one of them was Amoka, he was actually a Returning Officer… he led the group of 10 men to shoot at me. I have the videos capturing that.
“And apart from that, a day to the election, the governor dug five gullies, cutting off five roads and that was just to prevent election from going on and probably endangering my life.”
