News
Election petition: Sanwo-Olu opens, closes defence against LP, Rhodes-Vivour
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, on Monday, opened and closed defence in an election petition brought against them by the Labour Party, LP, and its Governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
The LP and Rhodes-Vivour are challenging the victory of Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat in the March 18 governorship poll.
They are also challenging the eligibility of Hamzat to contest the election.
They claimed he renounced his Nigerian citizenship and pledged allegiance to the U.S.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, is joined in the petition as a respondent.
A defence witness and the APC Chairman for Lagos State, Fuad Ade-Oki, testified before the tribunal.
He tendered before the tribunal some documents, including Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Form EC9 containing Hamzat’s full personal information and the oath he signed on his nomination form.
The forms include “Summary of Result from Registration Areas, “Summary of Results from Local Government Areas,” and” Declaration of Result”.
Led in evidence by APC’s lead counsel, Mr Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), Ade-Oki told the tribunal that he witnessed when Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat were filling the INEC Form EC9 containing their personal information as well as oaths they took on their nomination forms.
He said that the oaths were taken at the Ikeja High Court Registry.
He also testified that Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat paid the prescribed fee for the nomination forms and signed their oaths.
“The two documents with no 003960120 and 00408841 contained the same facts and reflected the same receipt number,” he said.
The witness, after that, tendered in evidence through APC’s counsel the oath declaration page of Form EC9 and the receipts.
However, LP counsel, Mr Idowu Benson, objected to their admissibility.
Benson said he would reserve his reasons until his final address to the tribunal.
The tribunal led by Justice Arum Ashom admitted the documents provisionally pending when it would hear objections.
After Ade-Oki’s testimony, the tribunal discharged him.
Banire then announced that Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat would be closing their case.
Suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his predecessor FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the suspended Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule again appeared in public together barely two days after a fresh round of peace talks at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The trio were seen together at a funeral service in Rumueprikom, Wike’s hometown in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
Recall that the three key political figures in Rivers State have been locked in a political wrangling for almost two years.
Their being together comes in the wake of Thursday’s peace meeting brokered by President Bola Tinubu, which demanded an end to the lingering crisis between the Governor and his former political allies.
At the funeral service were key political stakeholders, including Senator Allwell Onyesoh, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, and Senator Olaka Nwogu.
Others include the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Chibudom Nwuche; former House of Representatives Member, Hon. Ken Chikere; South-South Vice Chairman of the ACP, Victor Giadom; and former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Dr Sam Sam Jaja, among others.
Meanwhile, Governor Fubara is expected to hold a closed-door meeting today with his supporters, according to sources.
The meeting is intended to brief them on the outcome of the recent discussions with President Tinubu and Wike in Abuja.
Aged 94, Aminu Dantata died in Abu Dhabi at 3.ooam today (Saturday, June 28).
Dantata was a Kano-based business mogul and philanthropist.
The Principal Private Secretary, PPS, to the deceased, Mustapha Junaid, confirmed the demise in a post on his Facebook handle.
Junaid wrote, “Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun. Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun.
It is with heavy heart that I announce the passing of our beloved father Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata.
“May Allah grant him Jannatul Firdaus and forgive his shortcomings.
“The Janazah (funeral) details will be shared later insha Allah.”
News
LASG reopens Abbatoir at Oko-Oba
The announcement was made by the State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab in a statement he personally signed.
image credit : arisetv
Lagos State Government on Friday night directed the immediate re-opening of the Abbatoir at Oko-Oba following the fulflment of sanitation and hygienic prescriptions by the operators.
The announcement was made by the State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab in a statement he personally signed.
Mr Wahab said that the operators have substantially complied with the minimum benchmark for the operations of abbatoirs in the state which was flagrantly flouted necessitating the closure.
He informed that part of the conditions for the reopening is that on a monthly basis, the ministry of the Environment and Water Resources officials will conduct a periodic inspection of the facilities at the Abbatoir.
He urged the operators to avoid unsanitary activities, waste mismanagement and unhygienic handling of animal products as they conduct their businesses.
It will be recalled that the Oko-Oba Abbatoir was shut by the State Government on June 20 following an inspection by top State officials which discovered a flagrant disregard of the laws guiding safe operations of abbatoirs in the state.
SignedKunle AdeshinaDirector (Public Affairs)June 27, 2025
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