AD guber candidate asks tribunal to stop Sanwo-Olu’s swearing-in
Peter Fowoyo, Lagos
Barely one month to the swearing-in of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the Governor of Lagos state, the gubernatorial candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Chief Owolabi Salis, has filed a petition at the Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja to stop the governor -elect from taking the oath of office.
In a petition with file number EPT/LAG/GOV/2/2019, Salis alleged that Sanwo-Olu has a criminal record in the United States and is of unsound mind.
He therefore, urged members of the election petition tribunal to disqualify Mr. Sanwo – Olu by refusing him to be sworn-in as governor.
Joined in the petition alongside the governor-elect are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the INEC residential electoral commissioner.
Other respondents are, the returning officer for the Lagos state governorship election, the commissioner of police and the Nigerian Army.
“The second respondent (Sanwo-Olu) is a person adjudged to be of unsound mind and who is not capable to be sworn in as the governor of Lagos state. Sanwo-Olu has records of unsound mind and rehabilitation with the Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos.
“By virtue of Section 182 (1) (c) of the 1999 Constitution, the second respondent is a person not qualified to be sworn-in as a governor.
“Akinwunmi Ambode, the present governor of Lagos state and who is the chief security officer of the state attested to the fact in Punch Newspapers of Oct. 1, 2018, that Sanwo-Olu is of unsound mind and not fit and proper to govern Lagos state.
“Governor Ambode equally stated that Sanwo-Olu was arrested and detained for several months and was convicted for spending fake dollars at a night club in America,” the plaintiff alleged.
The Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Salis are asking the tribunal for an order restraining the chief judge of Lagos from swearing-in Sanwo-Olu as the executive governor of the state, pending the determination of the petition before the tribunal.
Speaking to newsmen after filing the petition, Salis said that “I’m here to ask the tribunal to stop the swearing-in of Babajide Sanwo-Olu pending the determination of the substantive suit,” adding that in order to prove the grounds that Sanwo-Olu was of unsound mind, he and his party will subpoena Ambode and the Gbagada General Hospital to provide the governor-elect’s medical records to the tribunal.
