Edo Guber Election Tribunal: Okpebholo, APC Defeats Ighodalo, PDP
By Reporter
The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the last September 21 Governorship Election in Edo State, Mr. Asue Ighodalo, has declared his intention to challenge the ruling of the election petition tribunal at the Court of Appeal.
The tribunal this evening, upheld the victory of Governor Okpebholo in the September 21, 2024, governorship election, dismissing the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel ruled that there was no basis to nullify the election results. Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Wilfred Kpochi stated that the PDP petition lacked merit and failed to establish substantial irregularities in the election process.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner with 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who secured 247,274 votes.
Dissatisfied with the results, the PDP and Ighodalo challenged the result, alleging that the election was not conducted in line with the Electoral Act, 2022.
Their petition, marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, argued that Okpebholo did not secure the highest lawful votes and that INEC failure to serialize and pre-record sensitive electoral materials, allegedly facilitated electoral malpractice in favour of the APC.
They also claimed that there were irregularities in vote computation across 765 polling units but could only present 19 witnesses, along with 153 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used in 133 polling units.
However, the tribunal ruled that the petitioners failed to provide substantive evidence to upturn the APC and Okpebholo’s result.
The tribunal submitted that the burden of proof rested on the petitioners and that they failed to prove their case convincingly.
The tribunal noted also that the PDP witnesses presented hearsay evidence, and crucial figures such as polling unit agents and presiding officers failed to testify.
The court also found no substantial evidence to support allegations of over-voting or non-compliance with electoral guidelines.
The panel held that even if the alleged unlawful votes credited to the APC were removed, Okpebholo would still have emerged winner of the electoral contest.
See Also: edo 2024 governorship election
