Hamzat Appears in Court for Lagos Governor Election Appeal

Obafemi Hamzat, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, arrived at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on Tuesday for the hearing of appeals challenging the judgment of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, Aso Naija Reports.

The tribunal had affirmed the re-election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

On September 25, 2023, the Election Petitions Tribunal upheld the re-election of Sanwo-Olu and his deputy as the duly elected governor of the state.

The tribunal dismissed the petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate Olajide Adediran, as well as the Labour Party and its governorship candidate, Rhodes-Vivour.

In its judgment, the tribunal stated that the PDP’s petition lacked merit and was dismissed accordingly. The tribunal also affirmed the election and return of Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected governor of Lagos State.

Tribunal addressed the question of its competence and jurisdiction to hear the petition, and Justice Mikail Abdullahi, on behalf of the three-man panel, answered in the affirmative. The tribunal held that this issue had already been resolved at the preliminary objection stage.

Another issue for the tribunal to determine was whether Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, were validly nominated by their party, the All Progressives Congress, to contest the polls.

Also, tribunal concluded that this was a pre-election issue that did not relate to the conduct of the challenged polls, citing relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act, as well as previous legal cases.