The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal has fixed Saturday, August 12 for the adoption of final written addresses in the petitions filed by the Governorship Candidates of the Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and that of the PDP, Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor.
The Tribunal’s secretariat confirmed the information to our correspondent.
Ahead of the hearing, parties in both petitions have already filed their final written addresses before the three-man panel led by Justice Arum Ashom.
In proof of his petition, Rhodes-Vivour called 10 witnesses including four subpoenaed witnesses.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who is the first respondent in the petition called no witnesses but instead tendered two documents which were admitted as exhibits by the Tribunal.
INEC also asked the Tribunal to dismiss Rhodes-Viviour’s petition for lack of evidence.
READ ALSO: To Dismiss My Petition Would Be An Endorsement Of Unconstitutionality – Rhodes-Vivour
Governor Babajide SanwoOlu and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat who were listed as the second and third respondents in the petition also asked the Tribunal to note the petitioner’s lack of seriousness for the petition as he neither filed a witness statement nor appear personally to prove his own case.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on its part described Rhodes-Vivour’s petition as “wishy-washy” and lacking evidence.
Rhodes-Vivour who came second in the polls says his petition was a “litmus test” of the superiority of the provisions of the constitution and insisted that to dismiss it would be an endorsement of unconstitutionality.
He is asking the Tribunal to disqualify SanwoOlu and Hamzat and return him as the person with the highest number of lawful votes cast at the Lagos Governorship Election held on March 18, 2023.
His PDP Counterpart, Jandor is also seeking the disqualification of Sanwo-Olu and Rhodes-Vivour in the election for non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s guidelines.
Jandor and his party also asked that all votes cast for the two candidates in the election should be declared wasted.
