The Court of Appeal in Lagos State has ruled in favour of the defeated governorship candidates of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, Chief Owolabi Salis and candidate of the Labour Party, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, against the winner of the 2019 governorship election in the State, Babajide Samwo-Olu.
The court on Tuesday, ordered the continuation of the petitions filed by Salis, and Awamaridi challenging the victory of Sanwo-Olu at the March 9 guber election.
A five-man panel of the court, in a unanimous decision, ordered the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to continue hearing of the petition.
The court held on Owolabi’s appeal that, “From the record, it is clear that the tribunal was wrong to have declared the petition as an abandoned petition.
“The case is to be remitted to the lower court for expeditious hearing of the matter.”
Court also found merit in a related but separate appeal by Awamaridi challenging the dismissal of its appeal against the victory of Sanwo-Olu as Lagos State Governor. The court also ordered an expeditious retrial.
