Number of female senators rises to 8 as Lawan swears in Olujimi

Abiodun Olujimi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been sworn in as the senator representing Ekiti south, by Senate President Ahmad Lawan.

She replaces Dayo Adeyeye who was sacked as senator by the appeal court sitting in Kaduna on November 6.

Olujimi, who trained as a journalist, contested and won the Ekiti south senatorial seat in 2015. She ran for the same office in 2019, but her challenger, Adeyeye, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

She was declared winner of the election by the Ekiti state national assembly election petition tribunal; a decision, the court of appeal upheld.

In a judgement, Uzor Anyanwu, the presiding judge, affirmed the verdict of the tribunal and asked INEC to issue a certificate of return to her as the winner of the senatorial poll in the zone.

Olujimi introduced the gender-equality bill, which was rejected, in the previous senate.

Her return to the senate puts the number of female senators now at eight.