The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called on the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to dismiss the petition filed by the Labour Party’s Governorship Candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, citing a lack of evidence.
In its final written addresses concerning Rhodes-Vivour’s petition challenging the victory of Governor Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat in the March 2022 Governorship election, INEC argued that the petitioner failed to meet the evidential burden required by Section 136 of the Evidence Act, 2011, and Section 135 (1) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The electoral body, represented by its counsel, Charles Edosomwan (SAN), submitted a 32-page final written address, asserting that a thorough examination of the evidence presented by the petitioner should lead to no other verdict but dismissal.
Furthermore, INEC claimed that out of the 10 witnesses called by the petitioner, eight of them testified as supervisors or ward collation agents and provided hearsay evidence from polling unit agents, which should be excluded from the court records.
The respondents in the petition include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Governor Hamzat, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), while the Labour Party candidate is the sole petitioner in the case. The first defendant has raised three issues for the Tribunal, presided over by Justice Arum Ashom, to decide.
In relation to the first issue, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared that the petitioner had not been able to demonstrate that the deputy governor had not included a verifying affidavit with his nomination form. However, the evidence presented by the candidate’s lawyer showed that the affidavit had been submitted and accepted as an exhibit before the Tribunal.
