Labour Party challenges Sanwo-Olu’s victory at Supreme Court

The Labour Party (LP) has appealed the judgment of the Court of Appeal upholding the victory of the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide sanwo-Olu in the March gubernatorial election in the state.

The Court of Appeal in Lagos recently dismissed an appeal filed by Labour Party (LP) challenging the judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which affirmed the election of Sanwo-Olu as the Governor of Lagos State.

The Appellate Court, in a unanimous decision, held that the appeal lodged by Labour Party lacked merit.

Labour Party and its governorship candidate, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, had appealed the judgment of Election Petition Tribunal delivered on September 23, 2019, insisting that Sanwo-Olu was not qualified to contest the election held in March 2019, and that the governor did not win the election.

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Hannatu Sankey, the justice who led judgment of the five-man panel of Justices of Appeal Court, specifically affirmed the decisions reached by the Governorship Tribunal.

The Court said the Labour Party and its candidate failed to produce any oral or documentary evidence through witnesses and other channels to establish the fact that Sanwo-Olu was not qualified to contest the election or did not win the governorship election.
However, in a statement to journalists in Lagos Thursday, signed by A. K. Kolawole, director of publicity, Labour Party in Lagos State, a copy of which was made available to BusinessDay, Kolawole said that the party and its candidate, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, had successfully appealed the judgment of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.

The party disagreed with the judgment of the Court of Appeal and Tribunal, stressing that some of its observations was not within the law.

The party further stated that it has engaged U. O. Sule, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and an activist, to lead 16 other erudite lawyers to battle for the nullification of the governorship election result in the state at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

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According to the statement, “How can the Tribunal expect us to physically present in Court over 13,000 ‘Oral’ witnesses within less than 240 hours, i.e. less than 40 days, while throwing away all documentary evidences of irregularities, corrupt practices and crime, even the Tribunal’s documentary records.

“The intendment of the law is not to expect parties to be magicians and miracle workers. The law does not expect impossibilities as a premise of justice. Imagine a Tribunal to lie against its own record, just to pervert Justice.

“The Tribunal claimed the election result sheet which was brought to court by the umpire, INEC, from which over 80percent were incontrovertibly proved to be fraudulently recorded based on corrupt practices was sealed in brown envelopes, whereas in the CTC of records intelligently obtained by the petitioners no document was sealed in brown envelopes.

“How can a Tribunal say an election where ‘so-called’ valid votes are more than accreditations is normal and just?”