The Lagos State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal is set to pass its judgment on Monday, September 25th, regarding the petitions lodged by the gubernatorial candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Olajide Adediran, a.k.a Jandor.
The tribunal led by Justice Arum Ashom had briefed all parties as regards the judgement date.
More Insights
Rhodes-Vivour and Jandor are challenging the victory of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winners of the March 18 governorship election in Lagos State as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
On August 12, Counsels sent their final written addresses before the Tribunal.
Petitions Filed
PDP and Jandor in a petition calling for the disqualification of the All-Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, over the noncompliance with the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Besides non-compliance with relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, Jandor and the PDP in their petition claimed that at the time of the governorship election held on March 18, 2023, Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat, and Rhodes-Vivour were not qualified to contest the election and therefore called for all votes cast for them in the election be declared wasted.
Back Story
Recall that on March 20, 2023, INEC declared Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC as the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Lagos State.
Governor Sanwo-Olu was reelected for a second term after polling a total of 762,134 votes to beat his closest rival, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party who secured 312,329 votes to come second and then Abdul-Azeez Adediran (aka Jandor) of the PDP who came a distant third with 62,449 votes.
However, the Labour Party and its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, rejected the results.