The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2023 governorship election in Lagos State, Abdulazeez Adediran, aka Jandor, has said the process leading to the sponsorship of the candidacy of re-elected Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was unlawful.
He said it was the same for the governorship candidate of the Labour Party for the election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
The PDP candidate made the claims before the Lagos State Election Petitions Tribunal.
He made the claims while being cross-examined by lead counsel of the All Progressives Congress, 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.
He said: “Election is a process and not an event.
“The processes of their nomination that led to the parties’ sponsorship of the candidates are unlawful.”
He said Sanwo-Olu lied on oath when he claimed that he attended Ijebu-Ife Community Grammar School in Ogun State and sat for West African School Certificate Examination in 1981.
Adediran said he confirmed from West African Examination Council Result Verification Portal that the governor lied.
While being led in evidence by his counsel, Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN), he had told the tribunal that his investigation showed that Sanwo-Olu did not have West African Secondary School Certificate.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Chairman of the three-man tribunal, Justice Arum Igyen-Ashom, admitted in evidence 12 documents Adediran tendered through his counsel.
One of the documents was a printout said to be from WAEC Result Verification Portal.
The witness, while being questioned by counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Adetunji Oyeyipo, said 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 lead counsel, 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 PDP in 2018 and that he was not declared the winner of the 2023 governorship election because Sanwo-Olu was allegedly unlawfully declared the winner.
While being cross-examined by Rhodes-Vivour’s counsel, Uchechukwu Ani, he said he was never a member of the LP, but he knew about the primary election 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 August 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 the LP, I.O. Benson, that his grouse with the governorship candidates was not their nomination but sponsorship.
The other members of the tribunal are Justice Mikail Adubulahi and Justice l.P. Braimoh.
The tribunal adjourned until June 21 for continuation of hearing.
