Sanwo-Olu and Gbadebo
Dare Odufowokan
Petition filed by the defeated governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, in his bid to get the judiciary to nullify the election of Governor Babajide Sanwoolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and declare him the winner of the March 18 gubernatorial election in the state, has suffered setbacks, Assistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan, reports.
There is anxiety within the Lagos State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) following a series of setbacks suffered by the petition filed by the party and its governorship candidate during the last gubernatorial election in the state, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, at the state’s Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. Checks by The Nation revealed that party leaders and members alike are worried by some developments at the tribunal.
Concerns within the party mounted last Thursday when the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal disqualified a witness, Erastus Ofoma, who has been subpoenaed by Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, from testifying against Governor Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat. Ofoma’s appearance and testimonies were anticipated to help the case of the LP by the party’s legal team. The development is believed to have unsettled the party greatly.
Weeks earlier, anxiety was triggered within the party when the Tribunal dismissed an application by its defeated gubernatorial candidate, Rhodes-Vivour. The LP flagbearer was seeking an order for leave to consolidate his petition with that of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Olajide Adediran. The court by its ruling refused the consolidation of the petitions.
To further compound the situation for the LP and Rhodes-Vivour, the Lagos State chapter of the PDP and its governorship candidate, Olajide Abdul-Azeez Adediran, also known as Jandor, according to their demands in the petitions they submitted before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, are seeking the disqualification of the LP) and its candidates in the guber election for non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.
Recall that Sanwo-Olu defeated 15 other contestants from different parties to emerge the winner of the governorship election held in the state on March 18, 2023. The governor polled 762,134 votes to beat his closest rival, Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party, who polled 312,329 votes in the election. The PDP candidate, Jandor, garnered 62,449 votes to come a very distant third during the governorship election.
Dissatisfied, Rhodes-Vivour, after the election, approached the Election Petition Tribunal seeking the sack of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as governor. In his petition to the tribunal, he is alleging that the governor was, at the time of election, not qualified to contest the election. The candidate of LP listed some grounds on which his petition is based.
He alleged that the election of Sanwo-Olu was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the Constitution. The third ground was to the effect that Sanwo-Olu was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the election. He asked the tribunal to nullify Sanwo-Olu’s return and declare him the winner of the election.
Fresh blow
Rhodes-Vivour’s legal team, as part of efforts to prove the allegations against Sanwoolu, had invited Ofoma to come testify before the tribunal. But Chairman of the three-man tribunal committee, Justice Arum Igyen-Ashom ordered Ofoma to step down as he could not testify in the matter. The tribunal held that the witness’ statement on oath was uploaded out of time and outside the 21 days stipulated under the Electoral Act.
The tribunal ruled on the matter after taking submissions from counsels representing parties in the petition. Other members of the tribunal were Justice Mikail Adubulahi and Justice l.P. Braimoh. Rhodes-Vivour was represented by Dr. Olumide Ayeni (SAN).
The first respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was represented by Eric Obigor, second and third respondents, Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat were represented by Bode Olanipekun (SAN) while the fourth respondent, the APC was represented by Norrison Quakers (SAN).
Ayeni, who represented the petitioner, had earlier informed the tribunal of his intention to call the subpoenaed witness, Ofoma. He said the witness had deposed to his statement on oath and served the respondents. While INEC’s counsel, Obigor confirmed service Olanipekun and Quakers objected the application.
They said the witness was not one of the witnesses in the list that accompanied the petition. Olanipekun said there was no indication on the list that any witness was going to be subpoenaed to appear before the tribunal. He argued that in the case, an objection was taken to evidence being deposed outside 21 days permitted for presentation of petition.
According to him, all the justices of the appellate court are unanimous in their decision that the subpoenaed witness whose statement is not front loaded cannot give evidence. Quakers who also aligned with Olanipekun, further stated that during the pre-action protocol of the tribunal on June 5, the list of witnesses presented did not suggest that a subpoenaed witness was going to be presented.
“It is a mandatory provision to comply with, that election petition shall be accompanied with list of witnesses to be called and their statement on oath. The petitioner cannot ambush respondents and the tribunal. At pre-hearing protocol, all applications have been closed. I urge the tribunal to discountenance the witness purportedly being subpoenaed in the person of Ofoma.” he said, citing the provisions of Electoral Act, first schedule, paragraph four.
The respected legal luminary insisted that the appearance of Ofoma is a violation of the Electoral Act. Following extensive arguments and counter-arguments by the lagal teams of all parties to the case, the tribunal upheld the pleadings of the respondents and ordered Ofoma to step down as he could not testify in the matter.
Application dismissed
Apart from also dismissing the application of LP’s defeated gubernatorial candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, for the consolidation of his petition with that of the PDP and its candidate, Adediran, the tribunal similarly rejected Rhodes-Vivour’s request to file an additional list of witnesses and their written statements on oath. All these developments are regarded as very worrisome setbacks by concerned chieftains and members of the opposition party.
The three-Justice panel dismissed the application for consolidation after hearing arguments from all the parties on the grounds that the parties, as well as the facts, subject matter of their petitions and reliefs sought are different. While the LP candidate’s petition was brought against the INEC, Governor Sanwo-Olu, and his deputy, Hazmat, Adediran’s petition in conjunction with his party, the PDP, have INEC, Sanwo-Olu, Hazmat, the APC, as well as Rhodes-Vivour and his party, as respondents.
The tribunal also observed, in its ruling, that Adediran’s counsel had earlier made it clear, in the pre-hearing information sheet, Form TF 008 of the Electoral Act 2022, that the petitioner and his party, the PDP, do not want the petition to be considered with that of others. With that, the tribunal turned down Rhodes-Vivour’s request to have his action and that of the PDP candidate consolidated.
In the second application which was dismissed, the tribunal held that the LP’s candidate should have sought the leave of the court for extension of time within which to amend his petition, as the 21 days stipulated by the Act within which to file an election petition has since passed.
As if the above mentioned developments are not enough worries for the LP and its legal team, the tribunal few days later, reviewed its initial order on the number of witnesses to be called by parties in Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour’s petition. With the review, the APC, its candidate and that of the LP are to now present 30 witnesses each. Only INEC said it would limit the number of its witnesses to 10.
Another hurdle
The LP and its candidate will also have to cross the hurdle placed on their way at the tribunal by PDP and its candidate, Adeniran, if they are to make anything out of their petition. Adeniran and his party are, among other things, calling for the disqualification of the LP candidate in the election for non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.
In the petition marked EPT/LAG/GOV/01/2023 and dated April 7, the petitioners challenged the outcome of the March 18 gubernatorial election on the grounds of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act and the guidelines of INEC.
While INEC is the 1st respondent, Governor Sanwo-Olu and the APC deputy governorship candidate, Hamzat; the APC, the LP governorship gandidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and the LP, respectively, are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th respondents.Besides non-compliance with relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, Jandor and PDP, in their petition, are claiming that at the time of the Gubernatorial election held on March 18, 2023, Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat, and Rhodes-Vivour weren’t qualified to contest the poll.
The petitioners, therefore, prayed that all votes cast for them in the election be declared wasted. “The disqualification of the governorship candidate of LP was also hinged on non-compliance of the LP with the requirement of the Electoral Law in the conduct of the primary election that produced the candidate,’ the defeated PDP governorship candidate told the tribunal.
He argued further that the notice of the primary election was issued by the state chapter of the party as against the provision that it must be issued and signed by the National Chairman and Secretary of the party. To many observers, the LP and its candidate may not find it easy brushing aside the many hurdles placed on its way in its quest to govern Lagos State.
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