In a decisive ruling Friday morning, the Supreme Court has affirmed the election victory of Babajide Sanwo-Olu from the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Governor of Lagos State.
The court dismissed the appeal brought forth by Labour Party (LP) candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
A unanimous decision by a five-member panel rejected two separate appeals challenging Sanwo-Olu’s win in the March 18 governorship election, deeming them lacking in merit.
Labour Party and Rhodes-Vivour contested whether Sanwo-Olu was eligible to run, raising concerns about his deputy’s dual citizenship. The LP argued that Sanwo-Olu’s running mate, Obafemi Hamzat, held citizenship in the United States, making him constitutionally ineligible.
However, the Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal, asserted that there was no evidence of Hamzat renouncing his Nigerian citizenship. The court emphasized that acquiring citizenship through naturalization in another country doesn’t strip a Nigerian citizen of their rights and privileges.
The ruling endorsed the Appeal Court’s decision, affirming the tribunal’s judgment that Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat were qualified to contest the governorship election. Consequently, Rhodes-Vivour’s appeal was dismissed for lacking merit.
Sanwo-Olu secured his re-election as Lagos State governor with a total of 762,134 votes. Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party claimed the second position with 312,329 votes, while Abdul-Azeez Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) finished third with 62,449 votes.