The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo, affirming his victory in the September 21, 2024, governorship poll. The tribunal, sitting in Abuja, dismissed the petition filed by Asue Ighodalo and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who had challenged the election outcome.
The three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, ruled on Wednesday that the election was conducted in accordance with the law. The tribunal found that the petitioners failed to provide sufficient evidence to back their claims of electoral malpractice, including allegations of over-voting.
In delivering the judgment, Justice Kpochi noted that the PDP and Ighodalo did not adequately present their evidence. According to the tribunal, they merely submitted documents without properly linking them to their claims. Additionally, the tribunal ruled that proving over-voting required the presentation of key electoral documents, including the voter register, BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System), and Form EC8A (polling unit results). The petitioners, however, failed to meet this requirement.
Furthermore, the tribunal observed that the petitioners did not bring forward witnesses to testify on the alleged over-voting. Without direct testimonies, the claims remained unsubstantiated.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election after he secured 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo of the PDP, who obtained 247,655 votes. Dissatisfied with the results, the PDP and Ighodalo sought the tribunal’s intervention, alleging irregularities and non-compliance with electoral laws.
Their petition was largely based on claims that votes were manipulated in 765 polling units across the state. Their legal representative, Ken Mozia, SAN, had argued that electoral irregularities should be judged by their impact, rather than by the percentage of affected polling units. He also noted discrepancies in the collation of results, claiming that figures on Form EC8A were altered at the ward and local government levels (EC8B).
