The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also urged the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to dismiss the petition filed by the Labour Party’s Governorship Candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour for lack of evidence.
INEC made the argument in its final written addresses to Rhodes-Vivour’s Petition in which he is challenging the victory of Governor Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat in the March 2022 Governorship in the state.
The electoral body based its call for the dismissal of the petition on the ground that the petitioner failed to discharge the evidential burden placed on him by Section 136 of the Evident Act, 2011, and Section 135 (1) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
INEC further submitted, in the 32 page final written address filed on its behalf by its counsel, Charles Edosomwan (SAN), that based on the diligent examination of the evidence led by the Petitioner the Tribunal ought to return no other verdict than one of dismissal.
The electoral body also claimed that of the 10 witnesses called by the petitioner, eight of them who testified either as supervisors or ward collation agents with respect to incidents that occurred at various polling units gave hearsay evidence of what they were told by polling unit agents, evidence which ought to be expunged from the court records.
The respondents to the petition are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat and the All Progressives Congress (APC), while the LP candidate is the sole petitioner in the matter.
The first defendant formulated three issues for the Tribunal presided over by Justice Arum Ashom to decide.
On issue one, INEC submitted that the petitioner failed to establish that the deputy governor did not accompany his nomination form with a verifying affidavit as evidence which was led by the candidate’s lawyer indeed showed that the affidavit was submitted and same was admitted as an exhibit before the Tribunal.
