There is growing apprehension in Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s camp following the decision of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to challenge the outcome of the Lagos state guber election.
Sources say the APC Governor and his men, are conscious of the groundswell of allegations of corruption sorrounding the March 18, 2023 gubernatorial elections in the State.
They are thus afraid of the possible outcome of the petition if allegations are properly proven at the elections tribunal.
Moreover, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, the PDP governorship candidate, (popularly known as Jandor) is said to have presented a very strong case at the tribunal with weighty evidence that will likely upturn the election results.
Jandor is calling for the disqualification of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) candidates in the election for “non-compliance” with the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the petition marked EPT/LAG/GOV/01/2023 dated April 7, the petitioners said APC did not comply with the INEC timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general election which stipulated that all political parties must give 21 days notice to INEC before the conduct of the primary election.
While INEC is the first respondent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Obafemi Hamzat, his deputy governorship candidate; APC; Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, LP governorship candidate, and the LP respectively are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th respondents.
Besides the allegation of non-compliance with relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, Adediran added that at the time of the governorship election, Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat, and Rhodes-Vivour were not qualified to contest the election.
He asked that all votes cast for them in the election be declared wasted.
According to the petition, the APC also failed to comply with the requirement of the Electoral Act 2022 which states that every political party sponsoring a candidate in the general election shall submit the nomination form of such candidate(s) not later than 180 days before the conduct of the general election in forms EC9.
Adediran and the PDP added that Sanwo-Olu failed to attach a copy of the GCE O’Level result he claimed to have sat for in 1981 along with his form EC9 as required by the Electoral Act 2022 among other allegations.
However, Governor Sanwoolu 2019 form CF001 received from INEC and attached as exhibit to Jandor and PDP petition to the tribunal, revealed an attachment of a purported 1981 statement of WAEC result from Ijebu Ife community grammar school with examination number 17624/118. WAEC response on the Verification of this result via WAEC DIRECT RESULT VERIFICATION PORTAL indicated a non-existence of the Candidate name in the specified year and Exam diet.
Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour who’s the candidate of Labour Party, as seen in the evidence attached to Jandor and PDP petition to the tribunal, claimed under oath to have joined the Labour Party on the 18th of June, 2022, meanwhile an application letter personally signed by him to be the PDP deputy governorship candidate for the same 2023 was dated 19th June, 2022. A day after he claimed under oath to have joined the Labour Party. He also attended the screening exercise for PDP deputy Governorship Aspirants at the party National Secretariat in Abuja on the 22nd of June 2022, 4 days after he claimed under oath as seen in the evidence attached to Jandor’s petition to the tribunal.
Some lawyers that looked at the breakdown of the petition gave Jandor kudos for doing a thorough job capable of disqualifying Sanwo-Olu and Labour Party candidate at the tribunal.
Analysts believe that Jandor did a yeoman’s job and with experienced Lawyers, Sanwo-Olu may just be on his way out of the government house if the case is properly decided.
Jandor came third in the election with 62,449 votes, behind the duo of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party.
Sanwo-Olu scored 762,134 votes to edge out the LP candidate who got 312,329 votes.
Before the elections, Jandor had expressed confidence in winning, irrespective of the antics of the ruling party or enemies within. He declared that no candidate including the incumbent Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had ever worked like he had done in the electioneering, going to meet people in various communities across the 245 wards in the state.
Bolstered by this and the reception he was getting from fans, he took the offensive. Addressing newsmen sometime at his campaign office in Ikeja, the 45-year-old Adediran said he was in the race to win and bring in a breath of fresh air.
According to him, “We know they (APC) have been collecting Permanent Voter Cards, PVC, from the electorate to manipulate the polls’ result. But we are assuring them they will meet
