Tribunal: Ex-deputy governor of Borno Dibal testifies in court on behalf of Sanwo-Olu

Adamu Shettima Yuguda Dibal, the former deputy governor of Borno State, spoke before the Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal on Tuesday. He presided over the most recent APC governorship primary in Lagos State.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the APC’s governorship candidate for the general elections in 2023, won the primary poll.

Sanwo-Olu’s bid for reelection as the state governor is being opposed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate for the March 18 governorship election.

Dibal was escorted in to testify by Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and Mr. Bode Olanipekun (SAN), attorneys for Sanwo-Olu.

The Lagos State Chairman of the APC, Mr. Cornelius Ojelabi, did not violate any electoral laws when he alerted the Lagos State Office of INEC in writing of the party’s primary election in Lagos State, according to Dibal, who testified before the tribunal presided over by Justice Arum Ashom.

If Ojelabi was the national chairperson of the APC on May 24, 2022, when he sent the letter, Mr. Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN), counsel to the PDP governorship candidate Mr. Abdulazeez Adediran (also known as Jandor), questioned the witness during cross-examination.

The witness said “no” to the question.

The witness testified in court that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC established the state committees that carried out the primary election in all 36 states.

The chieftain claimed that Ojelabi was merely informing the INEC office that the NWC had formed a five-member committee to conduct the primary election in Lagos State, of which he was the Chairman, during cross-examination by APC counsel Mr. Babatunde Ogala (SAN) after being shown the aforementioned letter, which had been admitted as an exhibit before the tribunal.

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The witness added that he submitted a report on the primary election to the APC’s national secretariat following the process.

In response to INEC’s attorney, Mr. Adetunji Oyeyipo (SAN), the witness stated that officials from INEC’s head office and Lagos office were present for the primary poll and signed a report on its conduct.

The Labour Party and its candidate, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, did not have a lawyer cross-examine them.

The tribunal, presided over by Justice Arum Ashom, subsequently released the witness and ordered the APC to present its case on July 12.

Adediran said in the appeal that the governor had submitted a fake West African school diploma to INEC, the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Adediran further alleged that Hazmat’s INEC Nomination Form EC9 was missing an oath declaration.

Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat’s nominations by the APC were in violation of the Electoral Act, he continued.

On July 4, Adediran, who finished third in the governor’s race, closed his case by providing both oral and written evidence.