LP insists Rhodes-Vivour remains candidate, tells voters to ignore opposition misleading the public
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour remains the Labour Party (LP) Lagos governorship candidate in the election on March 18, the legal team of the party has reiterated, urging voters to ignore the lies and smear campaign of the opposition.
Rhodes-Vivour’s lead counsel Olagbade Benson explained to journalists in Lagos that the three lawsuits recently instituted against his candidacy had already been struck out by the courts.
Benson – who led two other lawyers, Uchechukwu Ani and Kemi Afesojaye, in the briefing – dismissed as false claim by former Lagos LP Chairman and governorship candidate, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, that he had a substantive case against Rhodes- Vivour.
He labeled as fake, the affidavit being brandished by Awamaridi as the true position of the court that he was certified as an authentic LP candidate.
Benson said the affidavit does not represent the judgment delivered by the courts, according to reporting by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He cited two judgments, from the Federal High Court and Appeal Court, affirming Rhodes-Vivour as the bonafide LP governorship candidate in the poll on Saturday.
He said the case against Rhodes-Vivour by the PDP has previously been thrown out by the Federal High Court for lacking merit.
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Misleading the public
“Anyone going around parading himself as the candidate of the party, aside Rhodes-Vivour, and others alleging cases before the court on the LP candidature are misleading the public,” Benson explained, per Vanguard.
He said the claim arose because political opponents are afraid of Rhodes-Vivour and adopt the strategy to mislead the public, especially the electorate, before the election on March 18.
“Our attention has been drawn to an affidavit dated 5th August, 2022, and tagged affidavit on non-withdrawal which was sent to INEC, stating that he (Awamaridi) was yet to step down from his role as Labour Party candidate,” Benson stressed.
“But after, Awamaridi filed a suit before the Federal High Court with No: FHC/ABJ/1463/2022, challenging the candidature of the LP candidate where he sued INEC, the party and Rhodes-Vivour.
“On the 8th of December, the Federal High Court considered the case and struck it out. Anyone that is interested can apply for the judgement because it is a public document.
“And because he felt that the judgement did not go in his favour, he headed to the Appeal Court.
“And on February 2nd, 2023, the Appellate Court terminated Awamaridi’s case and it was based on the fact that it was filed out of time allotted by the law or pre-electoral matters.
“Also, the PDP filed a suit challenging his candidature and that matter was struck out at the Federal High Court on December 8th, 2022. And the opposition party did not pursue their claim after the Federal High Court struck it out.”