The Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, presided over by Justice Arum Ashom, was informed by a witness going by the name , Dayo Israel that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his wife Ibijoke were permitted to vote using invalid voter card.
Dayo Isreal, the Labour Party agent, was called to testify in the petition to invalidate Governor SanwoOlu's election that was filed by the party's gubernatorial candidate for the March 18 2023 election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
Israel stated the court after his introduction as a witness by the main attorney for the Rhodes-Vivour, Olumide Ayeni SAN, that he worked as an agent for the Labour Party in Unit 006, Ward 15, Lagos Island Local Government during the election.
He said, ”I observed that the card reader showed their cards to be invalid but Sanwo-Olu and his wife were allowed to cast their votes and this is against INEC’s electoral process.”
The witness further stated, while being cross-examined by Charles Edosomwan, SAN, counsel for INEC, that members of the All Progressives Congress, or APC, beat him up that day.
“I’m not a Labour Party member but I was assigned as an agent. When the APC thugs recognised me as the party’s agent, they beat me up. And also threatened to beat voters if they did not vote for APC.”
When asked by counsel to Governor Sanwo-Olu, Muiz Banire, SAN, to describe how he was beaten. Israel said, “During the casting of votes, four of them beat me up. I ran away, changed my clothes to disguise myself and came back to monitor the counting of votes".
Another subpoenaed witness, Sam Okpala, the State Secretary of the Labour Party in Lagos, also testified before the tribunal. He was accompanied by Folagbade Benson, the petitioner's attorney. The subpoena was presented to the court through the witness, which prompted additional objections from the respondents.
The Tribunal took the respondents' objections into consideration while making its decision, but it continued to hear the witness' testimony while directing the respondents to include their objections in their final written addresses.
However, the Court postponed the petition's remaining hearing until July 3.
