The court of appeal sitting in Lagos has dismissed the appeal of the PDP’s Olajide Adediran seeking to overturn the judgment of the Lagos state governorship election petition tribunal which affirmed the election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat
The three member appellate panel headed by Justice yagarta Nimpar held that the appellant couldn’t complain of being denied fair hearing at the lower court having filed his additional witness statement on oath outside the stipulated time.
Also the court held that the appellant was a meddlesome interloper in challenging the emergence of Messrs Sanwo-Olu and hamzat at the primary exercise of their party, the all Progressives Congress, adding that he was neither an aspirant or a member of the apc.
The court added that the issue of nomination, sponsorship and qualification of a candidate presumed to have won an election are pre-election matters, which ought not to have come before the trubunal but a regular court.
On the issue that the governor forged his secondary school certificate, the court held that the Nigerian constitution doesn’t provide that a candidate need attach his certificate in his forms. It also found that the appellant failed to establish forgery as alleged, by not tendering the presumed original certificate along with what was said to be fake.
The court also dismissed the appeal of the labour party’s gbadebo Rhodes vivour, which was primarily based on the alleged renunciation of Nigerian citizenship by the deputy governor. The justices held that material evidence needed to prove their claims weren’t provided, as the appellant bore the burden of proof which he failed to discharge to the respondents.
According to them, under section 28 of the Nigerian Constitution, a citizen of Nigeria by birth doesn’t lose his citizenship even when he assumes the citizenship of another country.
“No breach of the right to fair hearing by the lower court has been established by the appellant as claimed.
This appeal has hit the rock and it falls flat on its face due to the paucity of evidence.
The judgment of the tribunal is hereby affirmed, the return and declaration of babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi hamzat are also hereby affirmed. All parties are to bear their costs.”
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