The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Babjide Sanwo-Olu as the governor of Lagos State.
The five man-panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro dismissed the appeal filed by Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party, challenging the dual citizenship of the Deputy Governor of Lagos State Femi Hamzat, while citing section 182(1a) and 28 of the 1999 constitution as amended.
The apex court noted that Hamzat acquiring United States citizenship, does not jeopardize his chances of running for office.
The court held that the appeal is a gross abuse of court process saying no Constitution removes or strips anyone that is a Nigerian by birth of his citizenship except the individual renounces his citizenship which aught to be vetted by the President of the country.
The Supreme Court also dismissed the appeal of Azeez Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP),seeking to void the election of Sanwo-Olu on account of possessing a forged a West Africa Examination Council certificate, on grounds that it’s a pre-election matter and as such has become academic.
Sanwo-Olu polled a total of 762,134, votes to defeat his closest rivals, LP’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and Adediran of the PDP who both scored 312,329 and 62,449 votes respectively.
