Lagos Election Tribunal Strikes Out Rhodes-Vivour From Jandor’s Petition

The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal has made significant rulings regarding the petitions related to the recent governorship election in the state.

These rulings involve the Labour Party and its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Olajide Adediran (commonly known as Jandor).

In Jandor’s petition challenging the election results, the tribunal, chaired by Justice Arum Ashom, Justice Mikail Abdullahi and Justice Igho Braimoh, announced that it would deliver its judgment in the case of the PDP and its candidate first before addressing the Labour Party’s petition.

During the proceedings, the tribunal addressed several preliminary objections raised by the parties.

One key objection was whether the Deputy Governor of Lagos, Obafemi Hamzat, should be considered a separate candidate from the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and whether he could be listed as a respondent in the petition.

The tribunal determined that a deputy governor and governor are not separate candidates and should not pay separate security deposits.

Another objection revolved around whether a person who lost an election could be joined as a respondent in an election petition.

Jandor had included the Labour Party candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, as a respondent in his petition.

The tribunal concluded that election petitions are meant to be filed between the winner and the loser, not between two individuals who both lost.

Consequently, Rhodes-Vivour’s name was struck out from Jandor’s petition, and all related exhibits were expunged from the records.

The tribunal also noted that Rhodes-Vivour could not subsequently challenge any part of the judgment in Jandor’s petition.

Similarly, the tribunal ruled that the Labour Party should not have been included as a respondent in Jandor and the PDP’s petition, and the party’s name was removed for improper inclusion.

The tribunal, however, disagreed with objections raised by the APC and its candidate regarding the misjoinder of the Labour Party and its candidate.

“That the 5th & 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,” the tribunal held.

KanyiDaily recalls that Jandor had previously prayed that all votes cast for Sanwo-Olu and Rhodes-Vivour in the last election be declared wasted.