The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal has upheld a petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the victory of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Daily Report Nigeria reports that the Tribunal on Monday dismissed the preliminary objection of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the petition by the PDP.
The PDP and its candidate, Jide Adediran (Jandor) had filed a petition alleging that Governor Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, were ineligible to run for office on two grounds.
Adediran also claimed that Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party, who INEC declared as the second-highest vote earner, was also unqualified to participate in the election.
Jandor subsequently sought the disqualification of the APC and LP candidates over alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022 and INEC guidelines.
The APC in its preliminary objection, requested the Tribunal to dismiss the PDP’s petition, which was ultimately rejected by the tribunal.
The tribunal also struck out some paragraphs of the PDP’s petition, as well as an additional statement on oath filed outside the 21 days provided by the Electoral Act.
The Labour Party’s petition to have its name struck out from the PDP’s petition was also successful.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC polled 762,134 votes to beat Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP), who scored 312,329 votes. Jide Adediran (Jandor) of the PDP came a distant third, polling 62,449 votes.
