‘Travesty Of Justice’ – LP Rejects Lagos Tribunal’s Judgment Affirming Sanwo-Olu’s Election

The Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State has expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment of the State Governorship Election Tribunal, which on Monday, affirmed Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of the state.

The Tribunal had dismissed separate petitions filed by LP candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, challenging the outcome of the March 18 governorship election in the state, in which Sanwo-Olu was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The LP candidate in particular, in his petition dated April 9, 2023, stated that the 2nd respondent, Sanwo-Olu, was not qualified to contest the election at the time the election took place.

Rhodes-Vivour also stated that the election did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the constitution, and was characterized by irregularities.

According to the petitioner, the election of Sanwo-Olu was invalid, adding that the second respondent was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election.

INEC, Sanwo-Olu’s running mate, Obafemi Hamzat and the APC were the 1st, 3rd and 4th respondents, respectively.

However, the Justice Arum Ashom-led panel, in a unanimous judgment, dismissed the petition for lacking merit.

But reacting to the judgment, the state’s party Secretary, Sam Emeka Okpala, who spoke with THE WHISTLER at the premises of Rosaline Omotoso Courthouse, Ikeja, where the Tribunal sat, described the judgment as a travesty of justice.

Okpala stated that the judiciary which is supposed to uphold the tenets of the Nigerian constitution is now the one ‘desecrating’ it.

“It’s another travesty of justice. The judiciary, the judges that are supposed to uphold the tenets of our constitution are now desecrating the constitution all of us agree should be the grundnorm for running the country.

“It’s unfortunate; very, very unfortunate. We in Labour Party, we’re dissatisfied with the outcome of the judgment. We’re highly dissatisfied.”

Asked if the party will appeal against the judgment, Okpala said: “We’ll go in, analyze the judgment, then decide on the way forward.”