The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State and its Governorship Candidate, Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor), have submitted a petition before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Lagos State.
The PDP and Jandor are calling for the disqualification of the Labour Party (LP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the election for non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.
In the petition marked EPT/LAG/GOV/01/2023 and dated April 7, the petitioners challenged the outcome of the March 18 gubernatorial election on the grounds of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act and the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The respondents in the case are the INEC as the 1st respondent, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy Governorship candidate, Obafemi Hamzat; the APC, the LP Governorship Candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and the LP, respectively, are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th respondents.
Jandor and PDP, in their petition, are claiming that at the time of the gubernatorial election held on March 18, 2023, Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat, and Rhodes-Vivour weren’t qualified to contest the poll. The petitioners are praying that all votes cast for them in the election be declared wasted.
Apart from non-compliance with the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, the petitioners are also challenging the qualification of the respondents. They are alleging that the candidates violated the Electoral Act and guidelines of INEC in their campaign activities, and therefore, they ought to be disqualified.
Recall that Sanwo-Olu defeated 15 other contestants from different parties to emerge the winner of the Governorship election. Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to beat his closest rival of the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who polled 312,329 votes in the election. The PDP candidate, Jandor, garnered 62,449 votes to come third in the poll.
“The 2nd and 3rd Respondents, although not duly sponsored and not qualified, contested along with the 1st Petitioner and others for the office of Governor of Lagos State, the subject matter of this Petition.
“Similarly, the 5th and 6th Respondents, although not duly sponsored and not qualified, contested along with the 1st Petitioner and others for the office of Governor of Lagos State, the subject matter of this Petition.
“The 1st Respondent, upon the conclusion of the Election, declared the 2nd Respondent who was not properly sponsored by the 4th Respondent as the winner of the Election to the office of Governor of Lagos State.
“The 5th Respondent who was similarly not properly sponsored by the 6th Respondent was declared by the 1st Respondent as having scored the second highest number of votes at the Election to the office of Governor of Lagos State,” the petition reads in part.
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