AD, Salis lose bid to stop Sanwo-Olu‘s swearing in

THE Alliance for Democracy (AD) and  its governorship candidate, Chief Owolabi Salis, have lost their bid to stop the swearing-in of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the governor of Lagos State today.

This is because the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja yesterday declared that their petition “lacked merit”.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice T. T Asua, therefore, dismissed the petition against Sanwo-Olu.

In the tribunal’s ruling,  Justice T. T. Asua held: “The main purpose of an interlocutory injunction as rightly argued by the respondents is to preserve the ‘res’ that is the subject matter of the case.

“In this case, the petitioners have failed to show via their affidavit evidence that the res which is the governorship seat of Lagos State is in danger of being destroyed and has to be preserved by the issuance of the restraining order sought.

“An injunction is only issued to restrain a threatened wrong and not to restrain the performance of a legal right,” he said.

Justice Asua, while dismissing the application of the petitioners, held that restraining Sanwo-Olu from being sworn-in as governor would lead to a chaotic situation.

Read also: Challenges before Sanwo-Olu

“To crown it all, restraining the second defendant from being sworn-in as governor of Lagos State when the tenure of the incumbent expires on of May 29, 2019, will create a vacuum in the governance of Lagos State…

“Such an ugly scenario shall not be allowed by this tribunal. In a final analysis, we hold that this application lacks merit and is hereby dismissed,” Justice Asua said.

In his reaction,  Mr. Tunde Falola, the counsel to the second respondent (Sanwo-Olu), thanked the tribunal for its decision.

“On behalf of the second respondent, I thank this tribunal. This decision has prevented the creation of a chaotic atmosphere in Lagos State. We are grateful sir,” Falola said.

AD and Salis had on April 25 filed a petition, which sought to halt Sanwo-Olu’s swearing-in on the grounds that he has a criminal record in the United States and is of unsound mind.

AD and Salis also sought an order restraining the Chief Judge of Lagos from swearing-in Sanwo-Olu as the executive governor of Lagos State.

They had also sought an order restraining the Chief Judge of Lagos State in the interim from swearing-in Sanwo-Olu pending the determination of the petition at the tribunal.