IN LAGOS: Alliance for Democracy to appeal judgment upholding Lagos governor’s election

Reacting to Appeal Court’s judgment on Saturday, which upheld the election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Dr. Owolabi Salis, has said that his party would appeal the judgment in Supreme Court.

While speaking with newsmen on Saturday, Salis said there were a lot of loopholes in the judgment, maintaining that he and his party would be approaching the Supreme Court even though it was going to be expensive.

The lawyer said that All Progressives Congress (APC) manipulated the result of the election, pointing out that the result of the election did not reflect the votes of the electorate.

He said that AD was targeted by APC to pull it down, stressing that as a titled Chief in Ifako-Ijaiye, it was spurious how the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conniving with the ruling party in the state, scored him zero vote in Ifako-Ijaiye where he did extensive campaigns, even as the Saraki of a community in the area.

Salis said that what obtains in the country was worrisome, saying that a situation where people’s rights were suppressed did not speak well for the country, a leading African nation that should be example to the rest of the continent.

The AD candidate maintained that the undemocratic activities had been responsible for voter apathy and lack of interest by Nigerian citizens in getting involved in politics.

He wondered why the electorate would have confidence in the electoral process when they were fully aware that their votes would not count.

It would be recalled that a five-man panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos on Saturday had in two separate judgments, upheld Governor Sanwo-Olu’s victory in the March 9 gubernatorial poll and dismissed the Appeal by governorship candidates of Labour Party (LP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD).

The candidate of Labour Party, Prince Ifagbemi Awamaridi, on his part told newsmen that he was surprised that the same Court of Appeal which had earlier said that their case had merit was the same court that dismissed their case, pointing out that APC had turned the judiciary to its side.

Ifagbemi, however, said he was going to study the judgment of the Appeal Court and then decide on the next line of action, after due consultations, stressing that the fight for justice must not be abandoned for the sake of posterity.