Tribunal: Sponsorship of Sanwo-Olu, Rhodes-Vivour’s candidacy unlawful – Jandor

Mr. Abdulazeez Adediran (a.k.a. Jandor), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship Candidate for Lagos State in the 2023 General Elections, said on Monday that the process leading to the sponsorship of the candidacy of re-elected Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu was unlawful.

Adediran also claimed as unlawful the process that led to the sponsorship of the Governorship candidacy of Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP).

The PDP candidate made the claims before the Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal.

He was being cross-examined by APC’s lead counsel, Mr. Muiz Banire (SAN).

According to Adeniran, a political party can only be said to have sponsored a candidate validly in a general election if it adheres strictly to the Electoral Act.

“Election is a process, not an event. The processes of their nomination that led to the parties’ sponsorship of the candidates are unlawful,” he said.

He said that Sanwo-Olu lied on oath when he claimed that he attended Ijebu-Ife Community Grammar School and sat for the West African School Certificate Examination in 1981.

Adediran said that he confirmed from West African Examination Council (WAEC) Result Verification Portal that

The governor lied.

While being led in evidence by his counsel, Mr. Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN), he told the tribunal that his investigation showed that Sanwo-Olu did not have a West African School Certificate (WASC).

Supreme News reports that the Chairman of the three-man tribunal, Justice Arum Igyen-Ashom, admitted in evidence 12 documents that Adediran tendered through his counsel.

One of the documents is a printout said to be from the WAEC Result Verification Portal.

The witness, while being questioned by counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr. Adetunji Oyeyipo, said that he bought a WAEC scratch card on the instruction of WAEC to check for Sanwo-Olu’s result on the portal, and the portal showed: “Result not available for this candidate in the specified year and on the examination date”.

During cross-examination by the APC's lead counsel, Mr. Norrison Quakers (SAN), he told the tribunal that he was sponsored by his party.

He told the court that he was not a member of the PDP in 2018 and that he was not declared the winner of the 2023 Governorship Election because Sanwo-Olu wasallegedly unlawfully declared the winner.

While being cross-examined by Rhodes-Vivour’s counsel, Mr. Uchechukwu Ani, he said he was never a member of the LP, but he knew about the primary elections of the party held on June 1, 2022, and August 10, 2022, through a document he got from INEC.

According to him, Rhodes-Vivour’s Form EC9 was submitted on Aug. 13, 2022, but had been endorsed on July 4, 2022, before the primary election that produced him as the LP Candidate.

He told the court while being cross-examined by counsel to LP, Mr.Mr. I.O. Benson, that his grudge with the governorship candidates  was notnomination but sponsorship.

The other members of the tribunal are Justice Mikail Adubulahi and Justice l.P. Braimoh.

The tribunal adjourned until June 21 for the continuation of the hearing.