AbdulAzeez Olajide Adediran, otherwise known as Jandor and the representative of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recent Lagos State governorship election, has launched an appeal in opposition to the September 25 decision made by the state election petition tribunal.
The opposition, encompassed within a 38-page document dated October 13 and consisting of 34 points, was submitted by a group of legal representatives spearheaded by Clement Onwuenwunor, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
In the appeal, Jandor contended that the notion that an elected candidate’s disqualification can only be a pre-election matter is misleading, as proposed by the tribunal, and it is erroneous of them to consider it as a pre-election issue alone.
Jandor and his party reasserted the demands made in their petitions, which included the disqualification of the candidates from both the APC and the Labor Party. The PDP’s representative rebuked the tribunal for exempting the Labor Party and its candidate from his petition, given the plethora of charges made against Rhodes-Vivour.
He emphasized that the law insists on the inclusion of every accused in such proceedings. Contrary to the tribunal’s judgement, Jandor put forth the allegation that considering the invalidity of Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour’s sponsorship, it should have been declared null before they could benefit from their evident misconduct.
Jandor further argued in his appeal that he was entitled to raise concerns over Governor Sanwo-Olu’s tertiary qualifications, which he suggested were based on forged A-Level WAEC certificates, as supported by some of the evidence he submitted in court.
Apart from these, he is urging the Court of Appeal to decree that the tribunal had no authority to declare that the different names found in Sanwo-Olu’s various certificates belong to one single individual.
“During the gubernatorial election held on Saturday, March 18, 2023, both Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat were ineligible to participate in the race.”
“All votes cast for both the candidates and the APC in those elections were invalidated as both individuals were unqualified to run in the elections.”
“Like the others, the Labor Party’s candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, too was unqualified to participate, making all the votes polled for him and his party in the same election void due to his disqualification.”
“Since Jandor – who secured the third highest vote count in the elections and adhered to all the requirements of the Electoral Act 2022 – is the rightfully qualified aspirant, he should be declared as the victor of the said election.”
“The Certificate of Return issued to Sanwo-Olu is void and ineffective, and it should be formally announced that INEC should instantly issue a Certificate of Return to the Appellant, Dr. Azeez Olajide Adediran, as the lawfully elected Governor of Lagos State,” forms part of Jandor’s appeal.
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