The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, decided to hold off on delivering its judgement in the appeal brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo, against the declaration of Governor Monday Okpebholo as the duly elected governor of Edo State.
The case, which is listed under number SC/CV/536/2025, is a challenge to the outcome of the Edo governorship election held on September 21, 2024. Ighodalo and the PDP are asking the apex court to reverse the ruling of the Court of Appeal delivered on May 29, which upheld the election of Okpebholo under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
PDP and its candidate noted that the Court of Appeal did not properly evaluate the details of their petition. They insist that the election was not conducted in line with the key parts of the Electoral Act.
A panel of five justices, headed by Justice Garba Lawal, has now adjourned the case after all parties presented their final written arguments. The court noted that it would inform the involved parties of the date for the final judgement.
While the PDP and Ighodalo want the court to overturn the decisions of both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, INEC, Governor Okpebholo, and the APC have asked the Supreme Court to reject the appeal and maintain the results of the election.
Earlier, a panel of three judges at the Court of Appeal, led by Justice M. A. Danjuma, had upheld the May 15 decision of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which confirmed Okpebholo’s victory as valid.
The tribunal, under Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed all three petitions that were brought forward—by PDP and Ighodalo; the Action Alliance and its chairman, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje; and the Accord Party with its candidate, Dr. Bright Enabulele—saying they lacked merit.
INEC had declared that Okpebholo won with 291,667 votes, beating Ighodalo who polled 247,655 votes. Not satisfied, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, saying the poll did not comply with the Electoral Act, 2022.
In their petition, marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, they claimed that Okpebholo did not win the majority of legal votes. They also said that INEC failed to properly prepare and number the materials used in the election, which they believe allowed rigging in favor of the APC.
They also argued that results from 765 polling units were wrongly added up. They brought 19 witnesses and submitted documents, including 153 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines from 133 polling units, to back their case.
They claimed that results were changed at collation centres, leading to over-voting that worked in Okpebholo’s favor. But the tribunal ruled that PDP and Ighodalo failed to give solid proof.
It was noted that they only submitted evidence without linking them properly with live testimony. The tribunal said many of the witnesses gave second-hand information and that no presiding officers, agents, or voters were brought to explain what happened at the polling units.
It also ruled that the Electoral Act did not stop them from calling such important witnesses. On the BVAS issue, the tribunal found that none of the machines were turned on during the hearing to show the alleged over-voting.
