The Supreme Court has upheld the election victory of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, confirming his position as the Governor of Lagos State.
The apex court, on Friday, upheld the governor’s election, consistent with the previous rulings from both the election petition tribunal and the Court of Appeal in the state.
In a judgment delivered by a three-man panel – Justice Yargata Nimpa, Justice Samuel Bola, and Justice Paul Bassey, the Appeal Court affirmed the tribunal’s verdict on the re-election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Lagos State respectively.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party had challenged the election of Sanwo-Olu.
The central issue in the election for the Labour Party candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, pertains to the qualification of Sanwo-Olu’s running mate.
He claimed that the deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat, had renounced his citizenship as a Nigerian.
The court held that Sanwo-Olu’s deputy is a Nigerian by birth
The court added renunciation of citizenship of a citizen by birth must be registered by the Nigerian president, adding that the appellant did not provide evidence to that effect.
The court, therefore, dismissed the appeal by the Labour Party Candidate for lacking in merit.
On his part, Abdulazeez Adediran, commonly known as Jandor, from the PDP, argued that the name Sanwo-Olu submitted to INEC differed from the one on his WAEC certificate.
The apex court while dismissing appeal described it as “academic”.
Jandor came second runner-up in the general election in 2023.
Source: live TV
