The Supreme Court of Nigeria has decisively rejected the appeals brought forward by the Labour Party (LP) against the election victory of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State.
The court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, asserted that a Nigerian by birth has the right to contest elections, and holding dual citizenship does not disqualify such individuals.
The legal challenges were also raised by Olajide Adediran, also known as Jandor, from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who contested the governor’s election. The issues revolved around the certificates submitted by Sanwo-Olu to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the governorship election.
Both the LP and PDP appellants, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and Jandor, sought to overturn the Court of Appeal’s judgment that affirmed Governor Sanwo-Olu’s victory. However, a three-man appellate court panel unanimously dismissed the appeals, citing a lack of merit and failure to substantiate the claims.
The appellate court specifically noted that Jandor lacked the constitutional standing to challenge the APC primaries that nominated Sanwo-Olu, as he was neither an aspirant nor a member of the APC. The court affirmed the decision of the Lagos State Governorship Petition Tribunal, which had previously dismissed the appeals.
Disagreeing with the appellate court, Rhodes-Vivour and Jandor took their case to the Supreme Court. They argued for the governor’s removal, alleging non-compliance with the Electoral Act and a failure to secure the majority of lawful votes. They claimed that Governor Sanwo-Olu did not submit his WAEC certificate with his Form EC9 to INEC.
Additionally, the LP candidate urged the Supreme Court to consider the dual citizenship of the governor’s deputy, Femi Hamzat, as disqualifying him from running for elections. The legal teams representing LP and PDP insisted on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and the absence of a majority of lawful votes.
In response, Wole Olanipekun, the governor’s counsel and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, called for the dismissal of the appeals, aligning with the findings of the lower courts. Olanipekun argued that the appellants had only contested alleged variations in names on the governor’s certificate, which did not equate to forgery according to previous apex court decisions.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Garba emphasized that the 1999 Constitution permits a Nigerian by birth to aspire to any election in the country. He further clarified that dual citizenship, as long as the individual has not renounced Nigerian citizenship, does not disqualify someone from running for office. The judge concluded that the LP and its candidate failed to provide evidence of the deputy governor renouncing his Nigerian citizenship when acquiring U.S. citizenship.
“I find that the Appeal Court was quite right in affirming the decisions of the Tribunal. This appeal is lacking in merit and is hereby dismissed,” Justice Garba declared in a unanimous decision.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had previously declared Governor Sanwo-Olu the winner of the election with 762,134 votes, while Rhodes-Vivour received 312,329 votes, and Jandor secured 62,499 votes.
