The Supreme Court has upheld the victory of Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Governor of Lagos State. In a unanimous decision delivered by Justices Lawal Garba and Adamu Jauro, the five-member panel affirmed the APC candidate’s declaration as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election. The court dismissed two separate appeals challenging Sanwo-Olu’s victory.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP), who secured the second position, and Abdulazeez Adediran, also known as Jandor, of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who came third, contested the election results, citing alleged irregularities, malpractices, non-compliance, and non-qualification. They specifically argued that the Deputy Governor, who had acquired U.S. citizenship, was ineligible to contest an elective position, rendering his nomination as deputy Governor unlawful.
They further contended that the alleged unlawful nomination affected Sanwo-Olu’s qualification, urging the court to nullify their participation in the governorship election. However, both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal had previously dismissed the two appeals, citing a failure to substantiate the allegations in their petitions.
In its judgment, the Supreme Court held that there was no substantial reason to deviate from the consistent decisions of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, which affirmed Sanwo-Olu’s lawful election as Governor of Lagos State. The court emphasized that the acquisition of dual citizenship did not bar any citizen by birth from contesting an election. Justice Lawal stated that the only circumstance under which a citizen with dual citizenship could lose the right to be elected as governor is if they renounce their Nigerian citizenship by birth.
Consequently, the apex court dismissed both appeals, deeming them lacking in merit. In the governorship election, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC secured 762,134 votes, defeating Rhodes-Vivour, the closest challenger with 312,329 votes, while Jandor came in third with 62,449 votes.
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