Security operatives have cordoned off all the major routes to the Supreme Court which is expected to determine the fate of eight governors today.
The governors, whose elections are being challenged before the court, are; Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State; Abba Yusuf of Kano State, Alex Otti of Abia State; Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State; Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State; Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State; Bassey Otu of Cross River and Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State.
Bauchi, Kano, Plateau and Zamfara governors are already in court for the marathon judgements that will be delivered by five-member panels of the apex court.
However, armed security operatives have blocked supporters of the parties from getting close to the vicinity of the Supreme Court which is located within the restricted three-arm-zone.
Only lawyers whose names are on lists that were held by security operatives, were allowed to enter the court premises.
Likewise, only accredited journalists were granted access to court, with everyone scanned and properly searched.
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro had okayed the two cases for judgement, after all the parties adopted their briefs of argument.
The appeals were brought before the court by candidates of the Labour Party, LP, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the governorship election that held in the state on March 18, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and Abdulazeez Adediran (Jandor), respectively.
The Appellants are praying the apex court to nullify the declaration of Sanwo-Olu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as the valid winner of the gubernatorial election.
Specifically, the LP and its candidate, Rhodes-Vivour, in the notice of appeal they filed on November 26, urged the court to among other things, determine, whether Sanwo-Olu was qualified to contest the election considering that his deputy and running late, Obafemi Hamzat, has dual citizenship.
The Appellants told the court that the Lagos State deputy governor took the citizenship of the United States of America, USA.
They argued that since the deputy governor was constitutionally ineligible to contest the election, it invalidated Sanwo-Olu’s candidacy.
Both Governor Yusuf of Kano, who contested on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, and Muftwang of Bauchi who was candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are seeking to set aside the Appeal Court judgement that sacked them from office.
Governors of Zamfara, Cross River, Bauchi and Abia, will be hoping on the apex court to reaffirm their election victories and dismiss petitions seeking to remove them from office.
Vanguard
