Ambode hails court ruling on election petition ..says verdict reaffirms people’s mandate

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday described the Supreme Court ruling upholding his victory at the April 11, 2015 governorship election as a welcome development, saying that the people’s mandate which was expressly demonstrated on Election Day has been reaffirmed by the highest court in the land.
In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, the Governor in his reaction to the Supreme Court ruling, said “the decision of the Supreme Court has put all issues on election matters to rest once and for all”.
“Our Government is thus poised without further delay to provide the needed leadership to justify the confidence reposed in us, especially with the ruling coming in the wake of the swearing-in of members of the State Executive Council.”
Governor Ambode also commended the Judiciary for its consistency, saying that “the ruling has further proven the judiciary to be the critical institution that could further deepen our democratic values”.
“We have in the last four months embarked on reforms in the judicial and security sectors based on our conviction that these are the fundamental organs on which any government can carry out its duties optimally; we believe this is the way to go, we won’t relent until we achieve our goals to make life more comfortable for our people irrespective of creed or colour”, the Governor said.
It would be recalled that following Governor Ambode’s victory at the April 11, 2015 polls, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje filed a petition at the Election Petitions Tribunal challenging the victory at the polls.
The Tribunal had on Wednesday, July 1, struck out the petition filed against the election of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode of the APC by the PDP candidate, Mr Jimi Agbaje following a preliminary objection filed by the counsel to the APC Candidate, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN).
The Appeal Court also on August 26, upheld the ruling of the State Election Petitions Tribunal and also ordered the PDP candidate to compensate each of the respondents in the sum of N50, 000 each.
With the Supreme Court ruling putting to bed the issues surrounding the April 11 elections, Governor Ambode reiterated his call on the opposition to move beyond partisanship and join hands with his administration to move Lagos to the next level.