The Lagos Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Lagos, on Monday, upheld the election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat and dismissed the petitions by the governorship candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olajide Adediran.
The three-man panel led by Justice Arum Ashom also dismissed the petitions for lack of merit.
Other members of the panel are Justice Mikail Abdullahi and Justice Igho Braimoh.
In a unanimous judgment, the three-man held that all the issues raised by the petitioners were pre-election matters in which the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain.
Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat his closest rival, Rhodes-Vivour, who scored 312,329 votes while Adediran (otherwise known as Jandor) came third with 62,449 votes.
The tribunal also held that Rhodes-Vivour’s petition lacked merit and dismissed his petition accordingly
Rhodes-Vivour and Adediran had challenged the victory of Governor Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Hamzat.
Adediran and the PDP also named the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party and its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour as co-respondents to the petition.
The petitioners asked the Tribunal to disqualify Sanwo-Olu and Rhodes-Vivour 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 April 7, the petitioners said APC did not comply with the INEC timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general election, which stipulated that all political parties must give 21 days’ notice to INEC before the conduct of the primary election.
Besides the allegation of non-compliance with relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, Adediran also claimed that at the time of the governorship election, Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat, and Rhodes-Vivour were not qualified to contest the election.
The PDP candidate asked that all votes cast for them in the election be declared wasted and he should be declared the winner.
The Tribunal had earlier struck out the name of the Labour Party candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour from the petition.
The tribunal consequently declared that Governor Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr Hamzat were eminently qualified to contest the March 18 governorship election in the state under section 177 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Delivering its judgment in the petition filed against their election by Adediran, the tribunal held that Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat are members of political party and educated up to school certificate level.
The tribunal said, “ Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution stipulated that “A person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if (a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth;
“(b) He has attained the age of thirty-five years; (c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and (d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.”
“We have considered evidence before this court.
He (Sanwo-Olu) has highest number of votes.
The tribunal then said, “This petition is dead on arrival. In view of evidence adduced before the court, the grounds on which the petitioners is seeking disqualification of 2nd and 3rd respondents lacks merit.
The tribunal further held that the complaint of the petitioners didn’t form part of the grounds for disqualification for election into the office of Governor, under sections 177 and 182 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The tribunal also declared that it has no powers to inquire into the primary election of the APC which produced Sanwo-Olu, saying it is a pre-election matter which doesn’t fall under its jurisdiction.
It said, “Only an aspirant or member of a political party can complain about the outcome of the party’s primary, not a busybody like the petitioner.”
“I have found Governor Sanwo-Olu and deputy, Dr Hamzat, duly elected and therefore declared them winner.”
