The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal has upheld the election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and dismissed the petition brought by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Olajide Adediran, for lack of merit.
The three-man panel led by Justice Mikail Abdullahi, held that under section 177 of the Constitution, Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr Hamzat, were qualified to contest the March 18, 2023, governorship election.
The court ruled that the petitioner went on a “Columbian journey of making assertions with nothing to back it up,” and thereby dismissed the case in its entirety.
Section 177 state clearly that “A person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if:
(a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth;
(b) he has attained the age of thirty-five years;
(c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and
(d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.”
The tribunal also held that “given the evidence adduced before the court, the grounds on which the petitioner is seeking disqualification of 2nd and 3rd respondents lack merit.
“I have found Gov Sanwo-Olu and deputy, Dr Hamzat duly elected and therefore, declared them winner.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Sanwo-Olu winner of the governorship election.
He polled 762,134 votes to beat Mr Rhodes-Vivour, who scored 312,329 votes while Jide Adediran came a distant third, polling 62,449 votes.
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