Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat call for rejection of petitions against election victory
Urge the court to refrain from interfering with people's mandateSay that the petitioners have no basis to attribute merit to their claims
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, have urged the Governor's Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, to dismiss the petitions filed against them for their victory in the elections held in March. July 18, 2023.
Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, who are defendants in the petition filed by Labor Party (LP) candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, told the court that the petitioners had failed to show any basis for assigning credit to their claims.
They also said that the petitioners were unable to prove the allegation of non-compliance with electoral law. Rhodes-Vivour, had in his petition dated April 9, 2023, stated that All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate Sanwo-Olu was not qualified to run for office.
>Besides Sanwo-Olu, other respondents to the petition include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat and the APC as first to fourth respondents.
The LP candidate said he was aggrieved by the outcome of the election and the return of the governor (second respondent) as the winner of the election. Further, he declared that the second respondent failed to meet the mandatory requirements of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Election Officials Handbook 2023 and the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022.
Furthermore, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Dr. Azeez Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, filed a petition against Sanwo-Olu on two grounds, stating that the governor and his Deputy were at the time of the election not qualified to challenge.
Adediran also said that Rhodes-Vivour, which was declared by INEC to have received the second highest number of votes, was also not qualified at the time of the election to participate.
>However, the lawyers for Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat and APC, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN) and Bode Olanipekun (SAN), in their last written address, told the court that the petitioners were only able to muster a token of 62,449 votes out of over 1,100,000 valid votes cast by the Lagos State electorate.
They argued that despite the fact that the petitioners did not challenge the validity of a single vote cast, they nevertheless failed to accept their outright rejection by the electorate.
The lawyer further stated that the petitioners had failed to win the confidence of the electorate in Lagos State as evidenced by the elections held in the 20 local councils in the state March 18, 2023.
They therefore urged the court to resolve the two issues to be decided in favor of the second and third defendants, and therefore refrain from interfering with the overwhelming mandate given to the second and third defendants in the election.
Urge the court to refrain from interfering with people's mandateSay that the petitioners have no basis to attribute merit to their claims
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, have urged the Governor's Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, to dismiss the petitions filed against them for their victory in the elections held in March. July 18, 2023.
Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, who are defendants in the petition filed by Labor Party (LP) candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, told the court that the petitioners had failed to show any basis for assigning credit to their claims.
They also said that the petitioners were unable to prove the allegation of non-compliance with electoral law. Rhodes-Vivour, had in his petition dated April 9, 2023, stated that All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate Sanwo-Olu was not qualified to run for office.
>Besides Sanwo-Olu, other respondents to the petition include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat and the APC as first to fourth respondents.
The LP candidate said he was aggrieved by the outcome of the election and the return of the governor (second respondent) as the winner of the election. Further, he declared that the second respondent failed to meet the mandatory requirements of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Election Officials Handbook 2023 and the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022.
Furthermore, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Dr. Azeez Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, filed a petition against Sanwo-Olu on two grounds, stating that the governor and his Deputy were at the time of the election not qualified to challenge.
Adediran also said that Rhodes-Vivour, which was declared by INEC to have received the second highest number of votes, was also not qualified at the time of the election to participate.
>However, the lawyers for Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat and APC, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN) and Bode Olanipekun (SAN), in their last written address, told the court that the petitioners were only able to muster a token of 62,449 votes out of over 1,100,000 valid votes cast by the Lagos State electorate.
They argued that despite the fact that the petitioners did not challenge the validity of a single vote cast, they nevertheless failed to accept their outright rejection by the electorate.
The lawyer further stated that the petitioners had failed to win the confidence of the electorate in Lagos State as evidenced by the elections held in the 20 local councils in the state March 18, 2023.
They therefore urged the court to resolve the two issues to be decided in favor of the second and third defendants, and therefore refrain from interfering with the overwhelming mandate given to the second and third defendants in the election.
What's Your Reaction?
