I’ve never been declared mentally unstable, Sanwo-Olu tells INEC

The Lagos State governorship candidate of the All Progressives
Congress, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, says he has never been declared
unfit and having unsound mind at any point in time.

This is contrary to allegations levelled against him by the
Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.

The governor on September 30, 2018 while addressing a World
Press Conference alleged that Sanwo-Olu was once a patient at the
Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos, where he underwent
rehabilitation.

Sanwo-Olu had emerged as the governorship candidate of the party
in the state based on the support received from the Mandate
Movement of the Lagos APC and that of the national leader of the
party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Ambode, who lashed out at his then opponent for the party’s
governorship primary election, after failing to secure the backing
of the Mandate Movement for a second term, had said, “The aspirant
that has been put up to contest against me (referring to Sanwo-Olu)
is not a fit and proper person to take this job.”

He had added, “This particular aspirant is somebody that has
been arrested for spending fake dollars in a nightclub in America,
and was detained for months.

“It is also known that he doesn’t have the competence to do what
he is being propelled to do. This is somebody that has gone for
rehabilitation before. The records are there at the Gbagada General
Hospital.”

But in the Form CF001 submitted to the Independent National
Electoral Commission by Sanwo-Olu, he said he had never at any time
been adjudged to be of unsound mind.

Responding to one of the questions in the form: “Have you ever
been adjudged a lunatic or declared to be of unsound mind?” the
governorship candidate ticked “No.”

According to INEC, one of the grounds for disqualification for
anyone seeking public offices specified in sections 65, 106, 131
and 177 of the 1999 Constitution is if such a person is “adjudged
to be a lunatic or declared to be of unsound mind.”

Meanwhile, Sanwo-Olu and his counterpart in the Peoples
Democratic Party, Mr Jimi Agbaje, failed to attach their tax
certificates to the Form CF001 submitted to INEC.

Our correspondent observed this at the INEC office in Yaba,
Lagos, where names of governorship candidates in the state were
pasted.

However, analysts said they did no wrong since submission of tax
certificate was not required by the candidates in the Electoral
Act.

“They could have attached their tax certificates in the name of
transparency,” a Lagos-based lawyer and political commentator, Mr
Niyi Abayomi, said.