The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal on Monday
dismissed the preliminary objection of the All Progressives Congress which
asked it to dismiss the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The preliminary objection was dismissed because the
petitioner did not comply with provisions of the Electoral Act about payment of
security as to cost.
A member of the tribunal’s three-member panel, Justice
Mikail Abdullahi, who read some preliminary motions challenging the competence
of some aspects of the petition, dismissed the objection.
The Labour Party’s governorship candidate, Gbadebo
Rhodes-Vivour, and the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate,
Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, are challenging the victory of
Sanwo-Olu at the March 18, 2023, governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared
Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress winner of the March 18 governorship
election.
Sanwo-Olu had won the election by a landslide, defeating
Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party, who came second.
The Lagos State Governor polled 762,134 votes to beat
Rhodes-Vivour, who scored 312,329 votes. Jide Adediran (Jandor) of the PDP came
a distant third, polling 62,449 votes.
In the petition filed by Adediran and his party, PDP, the
petitioners based the petition on two grounds, stating that the Governor of
Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat were at the time of
election not qualified to contest.
Adediran also stated that the governorship candidate of the
Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who was declared by the first respondent
INEC as having scored the second highest number of votes was, at the time of
the election also not qualified to contest.
While INEC is the first respondent, Sanwo-Olu; Hamzat, APC;
Rhodes-Vivour, and the LP are listed as the second, third, fourth, fifth, and
sixth respondents respectively.
The PDP governorship candidate said he was calling for the
disqualification of the All Progressives Congress and the Labour Party
candidates in the election for “non-compliance” with the Electoral Act 2022 as
well as the guidelines of INEC.
But the APC in their preliminary objection asked the
Tribunal to strike out PDP’s petition, but the tribunal dismissed the
objection.
Some of the Motion of the 2nd and 3rd Respondents to strike
out some paragraphs of the Petition and additional statements on Oaths filed
outside the 21 days provided by the electoral Act succeed in part.
Paragraphs 2,3,4,5, 6,7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the Petition
were struck out. and the additional statement on oath that mirrors the
struck-out paragraphs was also struck out.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party’s petition that its name be
struck out from the PDP’s petition succeded.
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