Lagos—Following the confirmation of his victory at
the Election PetitionTtribunal, Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, yesterday
called on the governorship candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Jimi Agbaje to
join hands with him in moving the state forward.
Ambode also described the confirmation of his
victory at the polls as a reaffirmation of the
mandate given to him by the people of Lagos State.

But, the Lagos State chapter of PDP, in a swift
reaction, has rejected the ruling which struck out
its petition, describing it as a “miscarriage of
justice and a monumental drawback in the
dispensation of justice.”

The state election petition tribunal, yesterday
struck out the petition filed against the election
of Ambode of the All Progressives Congress, APC
by Agbaje following a preliminary objection filed by
the counsel to the APC candidate, Chief Wole
Olanipekun (SAN).

Reacting to the ruling of the tribunal headed by
Justice Mohammed Sirajo, the governor said, “I’m
elated at the ruling of the tribunal which is an
affirmation of my victory at the polls. On April 11,
2015, the people of Lagos spoke with their votes
about continuity and that is what the tribunal has
just reaffirmed”.

Calling on Agbaje to join hands with him to move
the state forward, he said “The task ahead
requires concerted efforts from everyone. I urge
all my opponents to put the election struggles
behind them and in the spirit of sportsmanship join
hands with me to take Lagos to the next level.”

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib
Aruna, the governor noted that “It was needless in
the first place for the PDP to have petitioned my
election which was adjudged to be free, fair and
credible. Now that the right thing has been done
which of course the people expected, we should all
come together above partisanship and move the
state forward”

Olanipekun had argued at the resumed hearing on
Thursday, June 25, that the petition should be
struck out for being incompetent and that there
was no correlation between the relief sought by
the petitioner and the particulars of application
on one hand and the grounds for questioning the
election of Ambode on the other hand.

“The grounds and particulars in the petition are
at opposites with the facts and reliefs being
sought within the purview of Section 285(2) of the
1999 Constitution. I urge my Lordships to dismiss
the petition,” Olanipekun had said.

He stated that there is nowhere in the pleadings
where the petitioners attacked the victory of the
respondents or questioned the conduct of the
election, saying “I submit that there is no petition
before your lordships known to law. There are no
grounds challenging the election of my client under
Section 138(b)(c) of the Electoral Act 2010 as
amended.”

Lagos PDP rejects verdict

Meanwhile, the Lagos PDP has vowed to appeal the
ruling said it as petitioned the National Judicial
Commission, NJC, for “necessary disciplinary
actions.”

In a statement by its publicity secretary, Mr
Taofik Gani, the party lamented that “We are very
jolted and embarrassed that our petition can die
prematurely without it been heard on the merit.”

“We think there is a miscarriage of justice here.
We are interested in the motive and motivators.
The panel held that it had jurisdiction to hear our
appeal; that our grounds are also competent. It
however held that the petition had no life because
it didn’t include a relief for re-election. This is
supposed to be determined during the proper trial.

We put as relief a declaration that we be returned
as validly elected. The panel cannot dictate to us
what relief to demand. Why should the Panel even
expect a relief for re-rerun instead of declaration
as winner?”.

It, however, vowed to challenge the tribunal ruling
saying “we will not allow this miscarriage. Is this
the change APC wants to give us in the judiciary.”
PDP pursuing a lost case — Lagos APC
Also reacting to the ruling, Lagos State APC, said
the party did not expect anything less, as PDP is
pursuing a lost case.

The party, however, stated that the dismissal of
the case filed by Lagos PDP against Ambode has
rested the inordinate ambition of PDP to steal
Lagos by force.

Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Joe Igbokwe
said “it is a well deserved victory by all standard.
The people of Lagos have spoken and there is no
going back. It is an affirmation of the peoples’ will
and the PDP know it. PDP does not exist in
Lagos.”

He said “We told them that Lagos is not for grabs
but this party will not listen, and now they have
been told that light and darkness have no meeting
point. Millions of dollars and pound sterlings, OPC,
and all the security agencies were massively
deployed by Jonathan and PDP just to snatch
Lagos but they failed.”

Igbokwe contended that PDP can never get
anything near to the so-called votes they claimed
to have scored in the last governorship elections



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/lagos-tribunal-dismisses-agbajes-petition-against-ambode/

Funny enough I have 3 females above me and they've said nothing. Seems they've something in common.....back to the topic, let Lagos pdp just leave Ambode alone! tinubu is already engaged in one battle that's not going his way already

Pep Lagos and just kidding should know that sip has sailed. Jimi should go and face his dying pharmacy

I expect him to appeal the ruling

I expect him to appeal the ruling