The political landscape of Amuwo-Odofin has been experiencing some shifts as the Election Petition Tribunal has declared Rauf Olawale Sulaiman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Amuwo-Odofin II Constituency election held on March 18, 2023.
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Why did this happen?
The tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to present Sulaiman with the certificate of return as the winner of the election. The court held that the Electoral Act 2022 does not allow a candidate to be declared a winner if the candidate did not fully participate in the election process.
The tribunal ruled that the Labour Party candidate, Olukayode Doherty, who was issued a certificate by INEC, did not appear on the ballot. Instead, Tunde Fashina, who appeared on the ballot and received the majority of votes, was found not qualified to contest.
The APC candidate had filed the petition against INEC, Labour Party, Tunde Fashina, and Olukayode David Doherty as the first to fourth respondents.
Tribunal Speaks
The tribunal, in its unanimous decision, overturned the INEC result after considering the evidence presented by the petitioners and the respondents. It ruled that the LP and Fashina failed to provide an academic certificate to prove the LP candidate met the minimum academic requirement of a First School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent.
The tribunal declared that all the votes recorded for the LP and Fashina in the House of Assembly, Amuwo-Odofin Constituency II election were wasted votes, invalid, and void due to non-qualification to participate in the election.
APC & LP Loose Some Arguments
However, the tribunal struck out the APC and Sulaiman’s ground of petition that the LP and its supported candidate, Doherty, did not win the highest number of votes, for not sufficiently proving the claim.
The tribunal disagreed with the LP’s argument that cited an Appeal Court decision, as it did not authorize a swap or replacement of candidates but directed INEC to open its website for political parties to submit their candidates for the general election.
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