The petitions filed by the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) and Action Peoples Party (APP) against the election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, have been dismissed by the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
According to reports, the petitions were dismissed by the Chairman of the three-man Tribunal, Justice Arum Ashom, after the patties withdrew their cases.
According to reports, the petitioners’ lawyers, Henry Bello for the APM and Francis Ese for the APP, disclosed on Wednesday during the court’s sitting that their clients had lost interest in pursuing the petitions.
The lawyer for APM, Bello, told the Tribunal that the motion for withdrawal was based on four grounds and was supported by two affidavits sworn to by the party’s National Chairman, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle.
“Our candidate has lost interest in the petition and has gone on to congratulate the second respondent,” he said. We request that the tribunal dismiss this petition.”
Counsel for the APP, on the other hand, informed the Tribunal that he had received a directive from the party’s Chairman, Okey Nwosu, to withdraw the petition.
However, this platform learned that the Counsels to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Baiyeshe and Abiodun Owonikoko, did not object to the application.
Read Also: In Nasarawa, police apprehend 26 suspected kidnappers, gunrunners, recover 497 ammunition
Similarly, Ayuba Kaw, counsel for the Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, did not oppose the application.
In his decision, Justice Ashom stated, “The net result of what the petitioners said is that the petition is withdrawn.” The respondents did not object after filing an affidavit of non-collusion.
“Given the petition’s current status and the fact that pleadings have been closed, we order that the petition be dismissed.”
Sanwo-Olu received 762,134 votes to defeat his closest rival, Labour Party candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who received 312,329 votes, and PDP candidate Jide Adediran, who received 62,449 votes.
According to the results released by INEC, the APM candidate, Funmilayo Kupoluyi, received 884 votes, while the APP candidate, Abiola Adeyemi, received 259 votes.
The parties argued in separate petitions that Sanwo-Olu and his deputy were ineligible to run in the election and that INEC violated the provisions of the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution.
