The Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the victory of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the March 18 gubernatorial election in the state.
In a unanimous judgment read by Justice Mikail Abdullahi on behalf of the three-man panel on Monday, September 25, 2023, the tribunal held that the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Dr Abdulazeez Adediran, fondly called Jandor, lacks merit.
“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,” Justice Abdullahi declared.
Adediran had contended that Sanwo-Olu was wrongfully nominated and sponsored by his party, the All Progressives Party (APC), and was not qualified for the election.
However, Justice Mikail Abdullahi, while reading the tribunal’s decision on the matter, held that the position did not form part of the grounds for disqualification for election into the office of a governor, under Sections 177 and 182 of the Nigerian Constitution (as amended).
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The tribunal also declared that it has no power to inquire into the primary election of the APC which produced Sanwo-Olu, adding that the issue was a pre-election matter which did not fall under its jurisdiction.
“Only an aspirant or member of a political party can complain about the outcome of the party’s primary election, not a busybody like the petitioner,” Justice Abdullahi said.
Determinating the petition of the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the tribunal held that the petitioner focused on one ground, which was that the deputy governor of Lagos State, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, took an oath of allegiance in the U.S. to renounce his Nigerian citizenship, rendering him ineligible to run for a political position in Nigeria.
The tribunal held that since Hamzat was a Nigerian citizen by birth, his American naturalisation did not extinguish his rights to run for political office in Nigeria.
It held that being a citizen of Nigeria by birth, his oath of allegiance to U.S. did not prevent him from contesting an election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Sanwo-Olu the winner of the governorship election.
Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to beat Rhodes-Vivour who scored 312,329 votes, while Jandor came third with 62,449 votes.
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