An Election Petition Tribunal
sitting in Lagos on Monday dismissed a petition filed by the Labour Party (LP)
and reaffirmed Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected Governor of Lagos
State in the March 9 polls.
The tribunal described the
petition as a “futile and wasteful exercise”, noting that the petitioners (LP
and Ifagbemi Awamaridi, its governorship candidate in the election) could not
prove their allegations of mental incompetence against Sanwo-Olu in their
evidence before the tribunal.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that the three-man panel of judges led by Justice T. T Asua, in its
three-hour judgment, held that the petitioners also failed to prove their
allegations of election malpractice against Sanwo-Olu and his party, the All
Progressives Congress (APC).
It held that its earlier decision
to dismiss the petition which was later appealed by the petitioners was still
valid because the petition was not filed according to the laws governing the
electoral laws.
“The petitioners have failed to
meet the requirement of the law. The petitioners have failed in our humble view
to discharge the onus of proof which would have been placed on the Respondents.
“We confirm the return of
Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected Governor of the State,”Asua said.
Earlier, the tribunal had struck
out the names of the fourth to seventh respondents (The Resident Electoral
Commissioner for Lagos State INEC, Returning Officer for Lagos State
Governorship Election, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State and the
Nigeria Army).
It held that from evidence
adduced, there were no ties linking them to the allegations contained in the
petition.
NAN reports that during the
hearing of the petition, the Petitioners had called six witnesses (including
Awamaridi and three subpoenaed witnesses) while the Respondents did not call
any witness.
Regarding Sanwo-Olu’s alleged
mental ill health, the tribunal in the judgment said that the petitioners could
not prove their allegations which were contained in paragraphs 19 and 20 of the
Petition.
“No scintilla of evidence was
presented to prove the assertion that the second respondent is of unsound
mental health.
“No newspaper evidence and
medical evidence from the Gbagada General Hospital was presented at the
tribunal.
“PW5 openly stated in court that
‘the evidence does not exist’. That portion of the petition remains abandoned,
and I so hold,”Asua said.
The tribunal noted that
Awamaridi, while testifying during the hearing of the petition, said that he
did cast a vote during the March 9 gubernatorial polls because he was certain
his Permanent Voters Card (PVC) was cloned.
According to the tribunal,
Awamaridi in his testimony could not pinpoint where the alleged irregularities
took place, but rather asserted that everything within his knowledge was said
by his agents.
“The journey of this petition has
been a futile and wasteful exercise. PW1 (Awamaridi) as a witness, dumped the
evidence on the tribunal and expected it to go on a voyage of discovery.
“Each document has to be related
to the case; PW1 did not tie any of the evidence to the case. Since the
petitioners did not link Exhibits P18 to P20 to their case, the evidence lacks
probative value and are not relevant to their case.
“The petitioners have failed to
structure the case within the parameters set by the apex courts. PW1, PW2 and
PW4 testified in relation to polling units but could not tie their allegations
to any specific polling unit,” the tribunal held.
Following the judgment, Mr Bola
Aidi, counsel to the petitioners told the tribunal that the judgment would be
studied.
“We are grateful for the time of
the Judge on the judgment, we shall look at it and do the needful,” Aidi said.
Counsel to Sanwo-Olu, Mr Victor
Okpara thanked the tribunal for the judgment, and described the doggedness of
the petitioners as “the beauty of democracy”.
Mr Tunde Falola, Counsel to the
APC appreciated the panel for the time spent on the judgment.
Justice Asua said that the
records of the judgment would be made available within 24-hours.
As at the time of filing this
report, the tribunal went on a break to reconvene to deliver a judgment on a
similar petition filed by the Alliance for Democracy.
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