The Supreme Court of Nigeria has formally recognised the election victory of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the governor of Lagos State.

The January 12 ruling upholds the March 2023 announcement of Sanwo-Olu as the victor of the Lagos State gubernatorial election made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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The election results indicated that Sanwo-Olu had won by a wide majority. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, or GRV, from the Labour Party (LP) and Abdulazeez Adediran, or Jandor, from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had opposed his candidature. Adediran finished third with 62,449 votes, while Rhodes-Vivour received 312,329 votes.

Both Rhodes-Vivour and Adediran contested the election results by filing petitions with the Lagos State Election Petitions Tribunal, seeking to nullify Sanwo-Olu’s victory. However, on September 25, the tribunal dismissed their suits, upholding the legitimacy of Sanwo-Olu’s election.

Unsatisfied with the tribunal’s ruling, the aggrieved politicians escalated their legal challenge to the appellate court, where their suits were again dismissed. Undeterred, Rhodes-Vivour and Adediran pursued their case to the Supreme Court, seeking a reversal of the previous decisions.

In today’s ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the judgement of the Court of Appeal Lagos, dismissing the appeal filed by Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party. The court found the appeal lacking in merit, thereby conclusively affirming the victory of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected governor of Lagos State.

This legal resolution brings an end to the protracted legal battles surrounding the 2023 Lagos State governorship election, providing a final and authoritative confirmation of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s mandate to lead the state.