The Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed Senator Monday Okpebholo as the validly elected Governor of Edo State, turning down the appeal brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
In a judgment delivered by a five-member panel of justices, the apex court, led by Justice Lawal Garba, noted that the appellant failed to present convincing evidence of electoral irregularities, including claims of over-voting and breaches of the Electoral Act. The court maintained that the PDP and its candidate were unable to substantiate their allegations well enough to invalidate the election results.
Justice Garba explained that Ighodalo’s case only targeted results from 395 out of 4,519 polling units, which significantly weakens the argument that the entire election was marred by malpractices. He added that most of the 19 witnesses presented by the petitioners during the tribunal proceedings did not provide useful or credible evidence.
This latest decision by the Supreme Court affirms earlier rulings by both the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which had also dismissed Ighodalo’s petitions. Both lower courts noted the failure of the PDP to prove their allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
At the tribunal stage, Justice Wilfred Kpochi, who headed the panel, stated that the evidence presented did not support the claims of over-voting or electoral malpractice. The petitioners had alleged that the election was marred by faulty collation, ballot manipulation, and unlawful practices in 765 polling units. They also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of failing to serialize or pre-record ballot papers and other sensitive materials.
In the course of the tribunal hearing, the PDP brought in 19 witnesses, including a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT department, who submitted 154 BVAS machines. However, the tribunal said the BVAS machines were not properly used to support the claims of over-voting and irregularities.
The tribunal further noted that many of the PDP witnesses gave second-hand accounts, not direct testimony, which weakened their case. The court stated that documentary evidence like voter registers and BVAS results must be supported by eyewitness accounts — something the petitioners failed to provide effectively.
According to the ruling, “The petitioners failed to prove that the first defendant did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act or INEC rules of conduct as required by law.” The panel also ruled that the documents provided did not link convincingly to the claims made, and ballot papers were indeed serialized as required.
INEC had earlier declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, while Ighodalo came second with 247,655 votes. With the Supreme Court ruling, the APC candidate’s victory is now legally settled, marking the end of the legal contest over the 2024 Edo governorship election.
