Supreme Court dismisses LP, PDP Appeal,affirms Sanwo-Olu as Lagos governor

A five member panel of the Supreme Court, on Friday, dismissed the appeals brought before it by the candidates of the Labour Party, LP, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Abdulazeez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor against the return of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State.

The panel in a unanimous decision led by Justice Inyang Okoro, dismissed the two separate appeals that challenged Sanwo-Olu’s March 18 victory for lacking in merit and affirmed the election that declared him winner. In the lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal, the apex Court, said there was no evidence that Sanwo-Olu's deputy denounced his Nigerian citizenship. The court added that the prohibitions in section 28 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was not applicable to a person that is a Nigerian citizen by birth.

According to the Supreme Court, there is no law stripping a Nigerian citizen by birth, from enjoying his status, rights and privileges, owing to the acquisition of the citizenship of another country through naturalization. It held that the Appeal Court was right in affirming the judgement of the tribunal that Sanwo-Olu and his deputy were not disqualified from contesting the governorship election. Rhodes-Vivour's appeal was hence dismissed for lacking in merit. LP and its candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, had appealed to the apex court to determine whether Sanwo-Olu, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was qualified to contest the election, considering that his deputy and running mate, Obafemi Hamzat, has dual citizenship. The Appellants alleged that the Lagos State deputy governor took the citizenship of the United States of America, USA. They argued that since the deputy governor, by his action, was constitutionally ineligible to contest the election, it invalidated Sanwo-Olu's candidacy at the election. The respondents in the appeal, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, as well as the APC, urged the apex court to dismiss the appeal for want of competence. They held that both the Lagos State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had unanimously dismissed the allegation and LP's petition against the outcome of the gubernatorial contest.