By G9ija

Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who is the Labour Party candidate for the upcoming governorship election in Lagos State on March 18th, has been confirmed as the authentic standard bearer for the party by his legal team.

Lead Counsel to Rhodes-Vivour, Mr. Olagbade Benson, confirmed to reporters in Lagos on Monday that three court cases recently brought against his client’s candidacy have been dismissed.

During the briefing led by Mr. Olagbade Benson, accompanied by two other lawyers, Uchechukwu Ani and Kemi Afesojaye, he stated that claims made by former Labour Party governorship candidate and chairman in Lagos, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, that he had a strong case against Rhodes-Vivour were false.

Benson further explained that the affidavit presented by Awamaridi as evidence that he had been certified as the authentic Labour Party candidate was in fact fraudulent.

Benson clarified that the presented affidavit did not accurately represent the judgments delivered by the courts in Lagos State.

He further explained that two court judgments, including those from the Federal High and Appeal Courts, had affirmed Rhodes-Vivour’s candidacy as the legitimate standard bearer of the Labour Party for the upcoming election on Saturday.

Benson added that the case brought against Rhodes-Vivour by the Peoples Democratic Party had been dismissed by the Federal High Court on the grounds of lacking merit.

He said, “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 suggested that individuals making false claims against Rhodes-Vivour were likely doing so out of fear of his candidacy and hoped to mislead the public, especially the electorate, before the election on March 18th.

He said, “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.

“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 act 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 ater the FHC struck it out,” he added.