THE Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal rejected an application filed by Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party’s (LP) candidate in the March 18 election, to consolidate his petition with that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Olajide Adediran (popularly known as Jandor).
The Tribunal also denied Rhodes-Vivour’s request for permission to call additional witnesses in support of his case.
Justice Ashom, who read the rulings on behalf of the three-man tribunal, held that a combined reading of Section 285(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Section 132 of the Electoral Act 2022, as well as Paragraph 4 subsection(5)& (6) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act and Paragraph 14(2), the law provides that petitions can be consolidated but care must be taken in doing so because the intricate details must be ascertained and the court must be satisfied that one petition
In this instance, the court determined that the parties in the two petitions are distinct, and Rhodes-Vivour is a respondent in the PDP’s petition.
The court also stated that the issues and reliefs sought by the parties are distinct, and hence the petitions could not be combined.
The tribunal ruled on Rhodes-Vivour’s plea for leave to call new witnesses, finding that the names of the extra witnesses were not included in the list of initial witnesses provided with the petition.
The Tribunal further stated that it should have been filed within the 21-day period specified in Section 285(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The Tribunal further ruled that because the petitioner did not file an application for an extension of time to file the list of additional witnesses within the time limit, he was barred from doing so.
The Tribunal also provided a pre-hearing report on the number of witnesses to be called by each party and the time permitted for each witness’ examination and cross examination.
In the interest of justice, the Tribunal allowed the petitioner, Rhodes-Vivour, to call 30 witnesses in support of his case, the first respondent, INEC, to call 10 witnesses in support of its case, and the second and third respondents, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, to call 30 witnesses in support of their mandates.
The APC, as the fourth respondent, has been granted the right to call 20 witnesses.
The witnesses include individuals who will be called by the parties.
With these instructions, the tribunal concluded the petition’s pre-hearing meetings and postponed further proceedings until Tuesday, June 13, when it will begin considering the petitions.
