…as the Appeal Court dismissed petition filed by PDP, LP candidates
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has hailed the judgment of the Appeal Court ruling in Lagos today.
The judgement was delivered by Justice Yargata Nimpa, Justice Samuel Bola, and Justice Paul Bassey. The Appeal Court in Lagos has affirmed the judgment of the tribunal, confirming the return of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Lagos state.
A three-man panel of the Election Petition Appeal sitting in Lagos today affirmed the re-election of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Kehinde Obafemi Hamzat, as duly elected governor and deputy governor of Lagos State, respectively.
It unanimously affirmed the decision of the Lagos State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which affirmed the victory of Sanwo-Olu on September 25.
The three-man panel affirmed the duo’s reelection after dismissing an appeal filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Olajide Adeniran, a.k.a. Jandor.
The panel dismissed the appeal for lacking merit. As of the time of filing this report, the panel is reading the judgment on the appeal filed by Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivor.
It held that the appellants failed to prove their allegations of forgery and non-qualification against Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat.
“Even though they were all pre-election matters, the appellants (PDP and Adeniran) still failed to prove them. The appellants came empty-handed and left empty-handed. They merely enjoyed their day in court. Their petition is dismissed.”
Sanwo-Olu statement reads thus:
With sense of humility, I welcome the decision of the Court of Appeal, which ruled today in our favour, thereby validating the position of Lagosians who freely cast their ballots to return my deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, and I as Governor and Deputy Governor of our dear State. We do not take it for granted.
Today’s judicial pronouncements, like those of the Lagos State Elections Petition Tribunal, have buoyed my confidence in our country’s judicial system. The Court examined all the issues and did justice to them, without leaving anyone in doubt as to who was the rightful winner of the election.
Our party, the All Progressives Congress(APC) will continue to maintain its firm belief in the judicial process.
My deputy and I have satisfied all the constitutional requirements and are now more focused on delivering democratic dividends to our people.
With deep gratitude to the Almighty God, I humbly accept today’s Appeal Court verdict, with a sense of responsibility and a desire to continue with the giant strides of our administration so as to leave a great legacy for our people.
The judicial victory has further strengthened my resolve to impact the lives of Lagos residents positively, regardless of their political persuasion, in line with our THEMES+ development agenda.
We urge our opponents to embrace the olive branch and join our sure march to the Greater Lagos that keeps rising by the day.
May God bless Lagos State and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
