Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal has dismissed the petitions filed by both the Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their respective candidates, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor against the victory of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The parties and their candidates (Rhodes-Vivour) had approached the tribunal in separate petitions following the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its candidate, Governor Sanwo-Olu won the poll.
Delivering its final verdict, the three-person panel, presided over by Justice Arum Ashom threw out the petitions for lacking in merit.
On PDP and Jandor’s petition, the tribunal in a unanimous judgment held that all issues raised by the petitioners are pre-election matter of which the tribunal lacks jurisdiction to entertained.
The tribunal also dismissed LP and Rhodes-Vivour’s petition for similar reasons.
Other members of the panel are Justice Mikail Abdullahi and Justice Igho Braimoh
Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat his closest rival, Rhodes-Vivour, who polled 312,329. Candidate of the PDP, Adediran, came third with 62,449 votes.
Meanwhile, Jandor has described the verdict as unfortunate.
He noted that the judgement was not in conformity with the 1999 constitution and the Electoral Act 2022, and vowed that the Lagos State chapter of PDP would study the judgement and decide on the next step to take.
“It is quite unfortunate that the tribunal in its wisdom refused to accept the credible and convincing evidence present by the PDP legal team on the non-qualifications of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party candidates in the election. The decision of the tribunal does not reflect the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act 2022 on issues bothering on qualification of a candidate in an election.
“This is not the end of the electoral process, it is just another stage. We will study the judgement and take decisions in the best interest of Lagosians.”
Publicity Secretary, Lagos State PDP, Hakeem Amode urged members of the party to remain law abiding and avoid activities that may disrupt the harmony and order of our society.
But Governor Sanwo-Olu described the tribunal’s verdict as victory for all and democracy. He said the judges gave a well thought out, detailed judgment, explaining their every moves.
Sanwo-Olu described the the judgment as a call to greater service. It was a long, tough process, but we are grateful that the voice of Lagosians was heard and upheld. Mr Deputy Governor and very privileged and thankful to Lagosians for standing for and by us. It is a victory for all, no winner, no loser.
It is, however, an opportunity for more work. It is about service, and we will continue to work harder to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.