THE Court of Appeal in Lagos Lagos, on Wednesday, November 15, dismissed the suits filed by the governorship candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olajide Adediran, challenging the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in the March 18 governorship election in the state.
In a unanimous judgment, the panel of the appellate court, headed by Yargata Nimpar, dismissed the appeals for lacking merit.
The court held that the appellants failed to prove their allegations of forgery and non-qualification against the governor and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat.
When reading the decision regarding the PDP’s appeal, Justice Nimpar declared, “Even though they were all pre-election matters, the appellants (PDP and Adeniran) still failed to prove them.
“The appellants came empty-handed and left empty-handed.
They merely enjoyed their day in court. Their petition is dismissed.” the three-man panel stated.
Also ruling on Rhodes-Vivour’s appeal on Wednesday, the appellate court dismissed his suit and described it as lacking merit.
In a unanimous decision, the panel affirmed Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat as governor and deputy governor of the state.
In addition to Nimpar, other justices on the panel were Paul Bassi and Samuel Bola.
In March, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Sanwo-Olu the winner of the Lagos governorship election.
Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Rhodes-Vivour of the LP, who scored 312,329, and Adediran of the PDP, who came third with 62,449 votes.
Dissatisfied with the poll’s outcomes, the LP and PDP candidates petitioned the Lagos State Election Petitions Tribunal to declare Sanwo-Olu’s victory void.
On September 25, the tribunal dismissed the lawsuit filed by Adediran and Rhodes-Vivour.
Disappointed with the decision, Jandor and Rhodes-Vivour appealed the tribunal’s ruling at the Appeal Court.
A reporter with the ICIR
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