It was a long day but victory came for the candidate of All Progressives Congress in the Lagos state governorship election, Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal affirmed his victory during the March 18th poll, on Monday. Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu whose victory was challenged by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,
It was a long day but victory came for the candidate of All Progressives Congress in the Lagos state governorship election, Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal affirmed his victory during the March 18th poll, on Monday.
Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu whose victory was challenged by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olajide Abdulazeez Adediran popularly known as Jandor and his Labour Party counterpart, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour recorded an all-round victory at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The three-man tribunal, headed by Justice Arum Ashom, sitting at the Roseline Omotosho Court House, Ikeja Lagos was full to the brim by supporters of different political parties to witness the decision of the electoral tribunal.
The Deputy Governor of Lagos state, Dr Obafemi Hamzat who is also the 3rd respondent in the two petitions was present at the Monday proceedings in the company of some chieftains of All Progressives in the state. While some members of the PDP and LP were present, both petitioners were absent at the tribunal.
Deputy Governor Dr. Hamzat at the Tribunal.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr. Sanwo-Olu and his deputy the winners of the governorship election having polled polled 762,134 votes to defeat Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who polled 312,329, and Mr Abdulazeez Adediran came third with 62,449 votes.
Mr. Adediran demanded the disqualification of Mr Sanwo-Olu and Mr Rhodes-Vivour in the election for “non-compliance” with the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the petition marked EPT/LAG/GOV/01/2023 dated 7 April, Mr. Adediran accused the APC of not complying with the INEC timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general election that mandated all political parties to notify21 days’ notice to the electoral commission before the conducting their primaries.
He further alleged that APC also failed to comply with the requirement of the Electoral Act 2022 which states that every political party sponsoring a candidate in the general election shall submit the nomination form of such candidate(s) not later than 180 days before the conduct of the general election in forms EC9.
Mr. Adediran and the PDP added that Mr. Sanwo-Olu failed to attach a copy of the GCE O’Level result he claimed to have sat for in 1981 along with his form EC9 as required by the Electoral Act 2022.
The PDP candidate also insisted that the LP’s governorship candidate did not comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act in the conduct of the primary election that produced the candidate, noting that Mr Rhodes-Vivour was still a member of the PDP as of 18 June 2022 when he claimed under oath to having registered as a member of the LP.
During the proceeding, Shortly after the announcement of appearances by all lawyers and parties in the petition the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Arum Ashom yielded the floor to the other member of the tribunal, Justice Mikail Abdullahi to read the judgment on behalf of the panel.
Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat are inseparable
Ruling Preliminary objections filed by the parties as it affected the petition of the PDP candidate, the tribunal first responded to the first which questions whether the 3rd Respondent, the Deputy Governor of Lagos, Obafemi Hamzat is a separate and distinct candidate from the 2nd respondent, Babajide SanwoOlu-Olu.
In its verdict, the Tribunal noted that this issue has been decided in several cases and went on to hold that a deputy governor and governor are not separate candidates and they are not required to pay a separate security deposit. The court further ruled that Mr Sanwo-Olu and his deputy are a single entity because they obtained the ticket together as flag bearers and they must be treated as such.
GRV and LP cannot be respondents
Also, the tribunal ruled out the relief sought by Mr Adediran to make the Labour Party and its candidate, Mr Gbadebo Rhoades-Vivour respondents in election petitions despite losing the election.
The tribunal therefore noted that the candidate of the Labour Party, Rhodes-Vivour, citing a list of decided cases, ruled that a petition is contemplated to be filed between the winner and the loser of an election and not between two persons who lost.
The tribunal therefore struck out the name of the 5th respondent, Rhodes-Vivour from the petition filed by the PDP candidate expunging from its records all exhibits tendered in evidence by Rhodes-Vivour in the petition filed by Mr Abdulazeez.
The tribunal went on to hold that Rhodes-Vivour cannot subsequently go on to challenge any part of the judgment of the Jandor’s petition or else he becomes a meddlesome interloper.
In a similar vein, the Tribunal held that the 6th respondent, the Labour Party, ought not to have made a respondent in Jandor & the PDP’s petition. The name of the party was subsequently struck out for being improperly joined. All evidence and exhibits concerning the party were also expunged from the tribunal’s records. “That the 5th & 6th respondent ought not to have been made respondents to the petition cannot rob the tribunal of the jurisdiction to hear the parties. The question of misjoinder cannot lead to a striking out of the petition as the proper order to make is to strike out the names of the parties”.
“Already the name of the 5th respondent has been struck out and the 6th respondent who has been found to be improperly joined is also ordered to be struck out”.
Court Strikes Out Non-Compliance Allegation by Jandor
The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal Petition has dismissed the pleadings of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdulazeez Adediran alleging the non-compliance by the candidate of APC and its candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The court therefore affirmed the victory of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Reading the unanimous judgement on behalf of the tribunal, Justice Mikail Abdullahi stated that the petition of the PDP candidate, seeking disqualification of the APC candidates because they were not properly nominated by their party was a pre-election matter and unrelated to the conduct of the election.
Justice Abdulahi further explained that since the petitioner is not a member of the All Progressives Congress, they do not have the locus standi, adding that the case has been answered by the Supreme Court severally.
The tribunal also explained that “the case is dead on arrival and deserves a befitting burial” adding that the second, third, and fourth respondents did not breach the electoral laws.
That Sanwo-Olu Forged Certificate Case Struck Out
In the same vein, the Tribunal held that the issue of the alleged forged certificate presented by Mr Abdulazeez against Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu lacked merit and should not be reckoned with.
Giving the premises for its judgement, the tribunal held that the petitioner did not attend the same secondary school, Community Grammar School, Ijebu-Ife as the second respondent.
The tribunal further explained that since the alleged forged certificate emanated from the secondary school, the petitioner was supposed to bring the principal of the school, or any of the staff of the school to the proceeding to testify on the matter.
The tribunal noted that the failure of the petitioner to present viable witnesses and evidence on the matter nullifies his argument.
” I affirm the declaration of the candidate of the APC, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected governor of Lagos State. Parties are to bear their cost”.
Tribunal Dismisses GRV Petition Against Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat
The Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has also unanimously dismissed the petition of the governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhoades-Vivour against the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat.
The Labour Party candidate has approached the court to disqualify Mr Sanwo-Olu, who emerged as the winner of the gubernatorial election, and his deputy on the alleged non-qualification and claims of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, claiming that the governor was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election.
Mr Rhoades-Vivour also challenged the eligibility of Dr Hamzat to contest on grounds that he allegedly renounced his Nigerian citizenship when he swore an oath of allegiance to the United States of America.
However, in its judgment the tribunal established that the petition would be one ground only, which is the case filed against the deputy governor over his oath of allegiance to the United States of America.
Ruling in that respect, the tribunal maintained that Dr Hamzat’s dual citizenship does not impede his candidacy to contest as the deputy governor of the state. The court further ruled that Dr Hamzat’s citizenship by birth dominates his citizenship by naturalization.
Justice Arum Ashom also insisted that swearing an oath of allegiance is not uncommon to anyone who is applying for American citizenship and it does not overrule the position of his citizenship by birth.
The tribunal therefore affirmed the victory of Mr Sanwo-Olu and his deputy as duly elected in the March 18 governorship election” I affirm the election and return of Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected governor of Lagos state. Parties are to bear their cost.” the judge ruled.
