• Sanwo-Olu hails judiciary, recommits self to Greater Lagos agenda
The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, yesterday dismissed an appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate in Lagos State, Abdulazeez Adediran, a.k.a Jandor, against the re-election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat.

Reacting, Sanwo-Olu applauded the judiciary following the validation of his election. He said: “With a sense of humility, I welcome the decision of the Court of Appeal, which ruled in our favour, thereby validating the position of Lagosians, who freely cast their ballots to return my deputy 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 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 is the rightful winner of the   election.

“My deputy and I have satisfied all the constitutional requirements and are now more focused on delivering the democratic dividends to our people.”

The court upheld the September 25 decision of the Lagos Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, affirming the victory of Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat in the March 18 governorship poll. It held that the appellants failed to prove their allegations of forgery and non-qualification against Sanwo-Olu and his deputy.

The three-man panel was headed by Justice Yargata Nimpar with Justice Samuel Bola and Justice Paul Bassi as members.

The panel said: “Though they were all pre-election matters, the appellants, PDP and its candidate, Adeniran, still failed to prove them. The appellants came empty-handed and left empty-handed. Their petition lacked merit and was dismissed,” the court held.

Also, while delivering judgment on the appeal by Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the court held that appellants failed to prove their claim.

Rhodes-Vivour had claimed that the deputy governor, Hamzat swore oath of allegiance, renouncing his citizenship.

The judges unanimously agreed that the appellant failed to demonstrate the allegation with documents. “No case of renunciation of citizenship has been established by LP and Gbadebo against Hamzat in accordance with the Constitution. No evidence of oath of allegiance to the United States and renunciation of Nigerian citizenship was placed before the tribunal.

“No document to prove that Hamzat was no longer a citizen of Nigeria. It is incumbent on the appellants to prove their claim. The documents were found to be computer-generated evidence.”

The court further held that both Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat were duly sponsored by their political party, All Progressives Congress (APC).