For disputants of last March’s governorship election in Lagos State, it’s judgement today at the Election Petition Tribunal.
The governorship candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour; and his counterpart of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olajide Adediran (well known as Jandor) had challenged the declaration of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the election.
Two days after the 18th March poll, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that Sanwo-Olu secured 762,134 votes to be re-elected for a second term of four years. His main challengers — LP’s Rhodes-Vivour had 312,329 votes, while PDP’s Adediran got 62,449 votes.
On 12th August, the tribunal, led by Mr. Justice Arum Igyen Ashom, reserved judgement after lawyers in the petitions adopted their final written addresses before the court.
It informed parties in the suit on Saturday that judgement would be delivered today.
In his petition, Rhodes-Vivour urged the tribunal to nullify Sanwo-Olu’s election on grounds that he was not qualified to run for the election.
He also contended that the governor’s emergence as winner “was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999″.
PDP’s Adediran contended that Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, were, at the time of election, not qualified to run.
He also said the LP candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, was equally not qualified to participate in the election.
He is urging the tribunal to declare all the votes cast for the APC and the LP candidates as wasted votes.
