Adeyemi Officially Takes Melaye’s Seat At Senate

Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has officially assumed office as the senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District in Kogi State.

Adeyemi was sworn-in by the Clerk of the Senate, Nelson Ayewoh, at the start of plenary on Wednesday.

He had defeated Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the Kogi West senatorial district rerun election.

Adeyemi, who polled 88,373 votes against Melaye’s 62,133 votes in the final election, is returning to the Senate about five years after losing the seat to the PDP candidate in 2015.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the rerun that first took place on November 16 as inconclusive over reports of violence and snatching of ballot boxes.

INEC had also said the total margin of 20,570 votes between Adeyemi and Melaye was lower than the  46,127 registered voters in 53 polling units of the 20 registration areas in the zone where elections were cancelled.

The APC candidate eventually defeated his PDP counterpart, but Melaye has vowed to challenge the outcome in court.