The Lagos Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has said that the governorship ticket of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and that of his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat are one ticket and inseparable.

Justice Mikhail Abdullahi stated this while delivering judgment in the objection of PDP candidate Olajide Adediran against the election of Governor Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat in the March 18 election in the state.

Governor Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat are the 2nd and 3rd respondents in the petition.

The tribunal held that this issue has been decided in a number of cases and went on to hold that a deputy governor and governor are not separate candidates.

The tribunal also held that they are not required to pay a separate security deposit.

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The petitioner, Adediran a.k.a Jandor, had also asked the tribunal to decide whether a person who lost an election could be joined as a respondent in an election petition. 

Adediran had joined the Candidate of the Labour Party, Rhodes-Vivour as a respondent in his petition.

Citing a list of decided cases, the tribunal held that a petition is contemplated to be filed between the winner and the loser of an election and not between two persons who lost.

The tribunal therefore upheld the prelim objection of the 2nd and 3rd respondents and subsequently struck out the name of the 5th respondent, Rhodes-Vivour from the petition filed by Ade.

The tribunal also expunged from its records all exhibits tendered in evidence by Rhodes-Vivour in the petition filed by Adediran.

The tribunal held that Rhodes-Vivour cannot subsequently go on to challenge any part of the judgment of the Jandor’s petition or else he becomes a meddlesome interloper. 

In a similar vein, the tribunal held that the 6th respondent, the Labour Party, ought not to have made a respondent in Adediran and the PDP’s petition.

The name of the party was subsequently struck out for being improperly joined.

All evidence and exhibits concerning the party were also expunged from the tribunal’s records. 

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The Tribunal however disagreed with the objections made by the APC & its candidate that the Mis joinder of the LP & its candidate was a ground for striking out the petition.

The tribunal held, “That the 5th and 6th respondent ought not to have been made respondents to the petition cannot rob the tribunal of the jurisdiction to hear the parties. The question of misjoinder cannot lead to a striking out of the petition as the proper order to make is to strike out the names of the parties”.

“Already the name of the 5th respondent has been struck out and the 6th respondent who has been found to be improperly joined is also ordered to be struck out”.

Details shortly…

THE NATION