The Supreme Court on Friday, affirmed the election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as governor of Lagos state.
The apex court's five-member panel dismissed the appeal filed by Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election.
In the main issue for determination, Rhodes-Vivour had contended that Obafemi Hamzat, deputy governor of Lagos, was not qualified to be sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) having renounced his Nigerian citizenship and taken up that of the US.
However, the court held that there is no credible evidence to show that the deputy governor renounced his Nigerian citizenship.
The court held that no provision in the constitution strips a citizen by birth of his citizenship, even if he voluntarily takes up the citizenship of another country.
The court held that Rhodes-Vivour ought to have provided the renunciation register in the prescribed manner allegedly made by the deputy governor.
Consequently, the court held that the appeal was an abuse of court process and devoid of merit.
The apex court also dismissed the appeal filed by Abdulazeez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election.
The court ruled that the subject matter was a pre-election issue and ought not to have been brought before the tribunal.
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