Naijahood
In a unanimous decision led by Justice Inyang Okoro, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court dismissed two separate appeals challenging the victory of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the Lagos State governorship election held on March 18. The appeals, brought by candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abdulazeez Adediran (Jandor), were deemed lacking in merit.
The LP and its candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, had sought the court’s determination on whether Sanwo-Olu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, was eligible to contest, citing concerns about his deputy’s dual citizenship. They alleged that Sanwo-Olu’s deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, held citizenship of the United States, making him constitutionally ineligible and invalidating Sanwo-Olu’s candidacy.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, and the APC argued for the dismissal of the appeal, asserting that both the Lagos State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had previously rejected the allegations.
In delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal emphasized that there was no evidence that Sanwo-Olu’s deputy renounced his Nigerian citizenship. The Supreme Court held that the constitutional prohibitions in Section 28 did not apply to a person who is a Nigerian citizen by birth. The court affirmed that there is no law preventing a Nigerian citizen by birth from enjoying their status, rights, and privileges due to acquiring the citizenship of another country through naturalization.
The Supreme Court concurred with the earlier decisions of the lower courts, stating that Sanwo-Olu and his deputy were not disqualified from contesting the governorship election. As a result, Rhodes-Vivour’s appeal was dismissed for lacking merit.
