The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal has reserved its judgment regarding the petitions challenging the election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat. The tribunal, led by Justice Arum Igyen Ashom, will inform the concerned parties of the judgment date after their counsels have presented their final written arguments.
Rhodes-Vivour and Jandor are contesting the victory of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the March 18 governorship elections in Lagos State.While the two petitioners were absent during the court proceedings, the third respondent (Hamzat) was present on Saturday.
In the petitions, INEC is the first respondent, while Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat are the second and third respondents respectively. The APC is listed as the fourth respondent.
Governor Sanwo-Olu’s counsel, Wole Olanipekun, (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the petitions from the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party, stating that they lacked merit and were merely academic exercises. He highlighted that the petitioners failed to adequately address the deputy governor and had abandoned their claims against him.
The allegations of the deputy governor’s non-qualification, such as his renunciation of Nigerian citizenship and swearing allegiance to the United States, were deemed insufficiently proven, according to Olanipekun.Similarly, Abiodun Owonikoko, (SAN), representing the All Progressives Congress, argued that the petitioners did not adequately substantiate their claims about the deputy governor’s citizenship status.
Counsel for the Labour Party and its governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Olatunji Benson, urged the tribunal to uphold their position that the deputy governor was ineligible to contest. He requested the removal of the governor and deputy governor from office and the declaration of the petitioner as the governor of Lagos State.
Clement Onwuenwunor, counsel for the Peoples Democratic Party, contended in his final written address that Governor Sanwo-Olu lacked a secondary school leaving certificate, rendering him unqualified for the governorship position.
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SOURCE: BUSINESSDAY
