The Lagos governorship election petitions tribunal has received a petition from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor), seeking to disqualify Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and nullify his governorship victory over alleged fake GCE result.

According to the petition, Mr Sanwo-Olu submitted a fake exam result to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during his first-term governorship bid in 2019.

The PDP and Mr Adediran alleged that Mr Sanwo-Olu failed to attach a copy of the GCE O’Level result he claimed to obtain in 1981 along with his form EC9 as required by the Electoral Act 2022.

The petitioners claim that this non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 warrants the disqualification of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party candidates in the election. I

In addition to the fake GCE result, the PDP and Mr Adediran also allege that at the time of the March 18 governorship election, Messrs Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat, and Rhodes-Vivour were not qualified to contest. They are therefore asking for all votes cast for them in the election to be declared wasted.

The petition also cited several other grounds of non-compliance, such as the APC’s failure to comply with the INEC Time Table and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, which stipulates that all political parties must give 21 days’ notice to INEC before the conduct of the primary election.

The petitioners also claimed that the APC failed to submit the nomination form of its candidate not later than 180 days before the conduct of the general election, as required by the Electoral Act 2022.

The Lagos governorship election petitions tribunal will consider the petition, which is marked EPT/LAG/GOV/01/2023 and dated April 7. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the first respondent, while Governor Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, APC, Labour’s candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and the Labour Party respectively, are the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth respondents.