The court of appeal in Lagos has dismissed the suit filed by Abdulazeez Adediran, governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), against the election of Lagos State’s Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Delivering its unanimous decision on Wednesday, the three-member panel led by Yargata Nimpar dismissed the grounds of appeal raised by Adediran, popularly known as Jandor.
The panel upheld the judgement of the tribunal that affirmed the victory of Sanwo-Olu as the elected governor of Lagos, in the March 11 election.
The People’s Democratic Party, PDP had told the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos that its candidate for the 2023 Governorship election in Lagos state Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor is the only candidate who met the constitutional requirement to stand for the March 18th governorship elections amongst the trio before the court.
The party claimed that both the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour respectively were not qualified to contest the 2023 election due to their constitutional breach.
Thus, it asked the Court of Appeal to disqualify Sanwo-Olu and Rhodes-Vivour.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos on Tuesday November 7, 2023, however adjourned the matter and promised to get back to the parties concerned on the 34 Grounds of Appeal filed by
Adediran and the PDP, in the appeal dated October 13 had expressed dissatisfaction in the alleged miscarriage of laws that characterized the tribunal judgement and therefore asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement of the tribunal.
In his notice of appeal, Jandor said that the State Election Petitions Tribunal erred in law and thereby reached a wrong conclusion when it dismissed the petition he lodged to challenge the qualifications of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of APC who was announced as the winner of the election.
Jandor’s appeal sought to upturn the “miscarriage of laws that characterised the tribunal judgment.”
He stated, among others, that the tribunal erred in law and its conclusion, which dismissed his petition to challenge the qualifications of Sanwo-Olu and his running mate, Obafemi Hamzat, as winners of the March 18 governorship election in the state.