SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS THE COURT OF APPEAL DECISION UPHOLDING BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU AS GOVERNOR 12-01-24
By Sadiq Aminu The Supreme Court has affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal, which had upheld the re-election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as Governor of Lagos State.
In a lead judgment delivered by Justice Garba Lawal, the 5- Man Panel of the apex court unanimously held that the appeal by the Labour Party and its governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, was unmeritorious and therefore liable for dismissal.
The apex court said parties should bear their respective costs.
The Lagos state division of the Court of Appeal, had on November 15, 2023, dismissed Rhodes-Vivour’s appeal, having affirmed the decision of the Lagos State Governorship Tribunal which upheld Sanwo-Olu’s re-election.
The Labour Party and it’s gubernatorial candidate had urged the court to allow the appeal and to set aside the decision of the tribunal and grant the reliefs sought.
The appellants also asked the court to interpret Section 182 (1) (a) of the Constitution and its implication to the qualification of 2nd and 3rd respondents.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Sanwo-Olu, winner of the governorship election having polled 762,134 votes to defeat his close challenger, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP), who scored 312,329 votes.