Lagos State Election Petition: WAEC Fails To Tender Copy Of Sanwo-Olu’s Certificate

• Says It Does Not Retain Copies Of Certificates of Candidates
• Sanwo-Olu, Wife Voted With Invalid Card Readers -Witness 

Kemisola Oye

A representative of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) subpoenaed by the Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal to tender under oath the certificate of Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu, the incumbent governor of Lagos State, has said the Council does not retain a copy of certificates of the candidate and it is, therefore, unable to tender any.

While being cross-examined by counsel on both sides, the witness was asked if WAEC has records of all the candidates that wrote its examination, and he answered in the affirmative. 

He was then asked in case of loss of certificate, how a candidate of WAEC retrieved his/her lost certificate, the witness said by approaching WAEC, with evidence, for an attestation letter. He was then asked that while he didn’t bring up the said attestation for Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, he went mute.

It would be recalled that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Dr Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (JANDOR) had earlier challenged the integrity of the sudden upload of the 1981 WAEC result after it had been revealed on that portal to be a fake.

Unfortunately for the respondents, the names on the new result uploaded were different from what was on the Ijebu-Ife Community Grammar School Statement of Results the governor submitted for the 2019 election.

One of the counsel further asked the witness from WAEC whether a discrepancy in names suggests that such results do not belong to the same person, and he said “Most likely”.

Meanwhile, the Tribunal has issued another subpoena on WAEC to submit its result verification back-end server and other information technology infrastructure for forensic analysis in the presence of the court and all parties.

Further hearing in the petition has been adjourned till 4th July 2023.

The declaration of Governor Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected governor in the 18th March 2023 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission is currently being challenged by both the PDP and its candidate as well as the Labour Party and its candidate,  Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.

In a similar development, Mr Dayo Israel, a Labour Party (LP) during the disputed election yesterday, (Monday)  told the Tribunal that Governor Sanwo-Olu and his wife cast votes with invalid card readers.

Israel, LP’s agent for Unit 006, Ward  15, Lagos Island  Local  Government, Lagos State, also said that he was beaten by some thugs alleged to be from All Progressives Congress (APC) during the election.

Israel testified for LP at the Tribunal hearing

He was led in evidence by Dr Olumide Ayeni (SAN), counsel for the LP candidate in the election, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who is also the petitioner.

“In relation to the petition, what I observed is that when Sanwo-Olu and his wife wanted to do their registration, the card reader showed invalid.

“However, the governor and his wife were allowed to cast their votes which is against INEC  rules,” the witness said.

Israel, while being cross-examined by counsel to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prince Eric Obigor, said that APC supporters, who allegedly beat him up, did not wear any uniform.

He said that he knew that they were APC supporters from the way they spoke.

“When the thugs recognised me as the LP agent, they said that if people did not vote for APC, they would beat them.

“I do not know the number of eligible voters in the Eyekole Unit. Sanwo-Olu and his wife had a total of two votes,” Israel said.

The witness told the Tribunal while being cross-examined by Dr Muiz Banire (SAN), counsel to Sanwo-Olu and his deputy,  Dr Obafemi Hamzat, that he was beaten up by four men while the election was ongoing.

“I ran away the first time I was beaten and then disguised to monitor the counting. I  did not report the beating at any Police station.

“I sustained a minor injury but there was a nearby clinic where I was treated.

“I registered as a polling agent with  INEC though I do not have the identification with me at the moment,” he said.

According to him, 126  people were accredited,  and APC had 121 votes, LP, 2 and PDP, 1.

The witness, while being questioned by the APC counsel, Mr Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), reiterated that he was trained on what to do on the election day and that a total of 126 people were accredited and the total votes cast were 126.

Meanwhile, the Tribunal led by Justice Arum Ashom adjourned until 3rd July for the continuation of hearing.

Eighteen-Eleven Media