Lagos tribunal
EKO HOT BLOG reports Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in Lagos state, AbdulAzeez Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, has lodged a notice of appeal against the September 25 judgment of the state election petition tribunal.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Lagos state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, the All Progressive Congress (APC), the Labour Party and its Candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour were all listed as respondents in the notice of appeal filed by Jandor.
The appeal, which is contained in a 38-page document dated October 13 and comprises 34 grounds, was filed by a team of lawyers led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Clement Onwuenwunor.
Jandor argued in the appeal that “Contrary to the misleading conclusion of the tribunal, the issue of disqualification of the winner of an election is both a pre and post-election dispute and that it was highly erroneous of the tribunal to treat it as merely a pre-election issue.”
Jandor and his party reiterated the reliefs in their petitions, requesting the disqualification of the candidates from both the APC and Labour Party. The PDP candidate criticized the tribunal for dismissing the Labour Party and its candidate from his petition, particularly considering the numerous allegations of misconduct against Rhodes-Vivour.
He pointed out that the law recognizes that anyone accused must be included as a party in such proceedings. Jandor maintained that contrary to the tribunal’s decision since he had also alleged that Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour’s sponsorship was invalid, the tribunal must invalidate his candidacy before he could benefit from their egregious misconduct.
The PDP candidate, in his appeal, also said that he deserved to raise issues in the tertiary qualifications of Governor Sanwo-Olu, which were built on false A Level WAEC certificates as demonstrated in some of the exhibits he placed before the court.
Among other reliefs, he wants the Court of Appeal to hold that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hold that the different names in the different certificates presented by Sanwo-Olu belong to one and the same person.
“That at the time of the Governorship Election of Saturday, March 18, 2023, Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, were not qualified to have contested the election.
“That all the votes recorded for both candidates and the APC in the said election were wasted votes owing to the non-qualification of both men to have participated in the election.
“That the candidate of the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, was also not qualified to have contested, and all votes recorded for him and his party in the said election as the second highest number of votes cast at that election, were wasted votes owing to his non-qualification.
“That Jandor, having scored the third highest number of votes in the Election and having satisfied the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, is the validly qualified candidate to be returned as the winner of the said election.
“That the Certificate of Return issued to Sanwo-Olu is null, void and of no effect and that it may be determined and declared that INEC shall forthwith issue the Appellant, Dr Azeez Olajide Adediran, with a Certificate of Return as the duly elected Governor of Lagos State,” Jandor’s appeal reads.
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