Lagos Guber Poll : Jandor Requests Transfer of Appeal Hearing to Abuja for Fairness

Jandor, the Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 governorship election, has formally requested that the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongbam-Mensem, moves the hearing of his appeal to Abuja.

In a letter dated October 23, 2023, addressed to Justice Dongbam-Mensem, Jandor emphasized that this transfer is crucial to ensure a fair and unbiased process, free from potential interference. The Court of Appeal received the notice on the same day.

To prevent political interference in the courts, Justice Dongban-Mensem had previously transferred all election petition cases from the 36 states to Abuja and Lagos.

As a result, appeal cases related to governorship, national, and state assembly elections are now being heard by special panels in these two locations instead of the 20 divisions of the court.

Appeals from the southern part of the country are heard in Lagos, while those from the northern part are handled in Abuja.

On October 13, Jandor filed a notice of appeal consisting of 34 grounds, challenging the September 25th judgment of the State Election Petition Tribunal.

His legal team, led by Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN), lodged this 38-page document. Notably, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Babajide SanwoOlu, his deputy Obafemi Hamzat, the All Progressive Congress (APC), the Labour Party (LP), and its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, were all listed as respondents in the appeal.

In the grounds of appeal, Jandor and the PDP reiterated the reliefs sought in their petitions, including the disqualification of the APC and LP candidates.

Jandor also seeks a declaration that all votes cast for both candidates and the APC in the election were wasted votes due to their disqualification.

He claims that, as the candidate with the third-highest number of votes and meeting the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, he is the validly qualified candidate to be declared the winner of the election.

Moreover, he argues that the Certificate of Return issued to Sanwo-Olu is null and void, and INEC should issue him, Dr. Azeez Olajide Adediran, a Certificate of Return as the duly elected governor of Lagos State.