Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the 2023 Labour Party (LP) candidate for governor of Lagos State, ended his opposition to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s election victory on Tuesday.
Obafemi Hazmat, the deputy governor of Lagos State, is also being challenged by Rhodes-Vivour on the grounds that he purportedly renounced his Nigerian citizenship and swore loyalty to the United States of America.
The petitioner’s attorney, Mr. Idowu Benson, informed the three-judge tribunal presided over by Arum Ashom at the resumed hearing before the governorship election petition tribunal on Tuesday that the petitioner was concluding his case.
In the petition of the Labour Party candidate, ten witnesses gave testimony.
The attorney also presented a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the INEC Form EC9, an affidavit that lists a candidate’s details and was hand-filled by Hamzat before being front-loaded by the attorney for the fourth respondent, the All Progressives Congress (APC), before the tribunal.
The admissibility of the material submitted by the petitioner was challenged by all four respondents’ attorneys.
However, the paper was accepted into evidence by the tribunal and designated as Exhibit PE713.
The CTC presented by the petitioner was stored by the first respondent and was not a part of the court documents, according to the APC attorney, Mr. Noris Quakers (SAN).
It is not a document filed with this tribunal.
“Only a document bearing the Independent National Electoral Commission’s signature may be offered.
In the final written presentation, “We will further argue why this document should not be admitted,” he stated.
The INEC attorney, Mr. Eric Obigor, thanked the petitioner for concluding his case and informed the tribunal that he will choose a time to present their defense.
The tribunal mandated that the first respondent present his case on the following postponed day, but he pleaded with the court for extra time to organize his affairs.
Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat’s legal representative, Mr. Bode Olanipekun (SAN), praised the petitioner for resolving the matter but noted that they had to have made the wise withdrawal sooner.
According to NAN, the LP witness’s health issues caused the Monday proceedings to be postponed.
However, the tribunal continued until July 5 so that INEC could present its defense.
