Supreme Court sets scary precedent by allowing presidents, governors with allegiances to other nations: Rhodes-Vivour
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Lagos Labour Party’s governorship candidate, has berated the Supreme Court for upholding Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s electoral victory, accusing the apex court of setting a scary precedent that would see dual citizenship become president or governor in Nigeria.
“Today, the Supreme Court set a precedent: a governor or president can have multiple allegiances to states other than Nigeria and still be the chief security officer of Lagos or Nigeria,” Mr Rhodes-Vivour said, sharing a screenshot of Section 182 Nigerian constitution.
“The Section 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria reads: (1) No person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if – (a) subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other country.”
Mr Rhodes-Vivour, in a tweet after the apex court affirmed Mr Sanwo-Olu’s victory on Friday, said, “while I submit to this shocking decision of the Supreme Court, I worry for what this precedent holds for future generations being led by leaders with conflict of interest and loyalty.
“There is no Liberal Democracy that will accept to be led by an individual who has sworn an oath of allegiance to another country. Citizens should not have to contemplate the loyalty of their commander-in-chief or the chief security officer of their state. That said, as the court pleases,” he added.
Mr Sanwo-Olu polled a total of 762,134 votes to defeat Mr Rhodes-Vivour, who polled 312,329 votes, and Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor) of the Peoples Democratic Party, who polled 62,449 votes.
Legal tussle over the March 2023 governorship election came to an end after the Supreme Court upheld Mr Sanwo-Olu’s victory, dismissing petitions from two opposition candidates, Mr Rhodes-Vivour and Peoples Democratic Party’s Mr Adediran.
