Edo Tribunal To Deliver Verdict On Ighodalo’s Election Suit Wednesday
The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has scheduled April 2, 2025, (Wednesday) to deliver its judgement on the suit filed by Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging Governor Monday Okpebholo’s victory in the September 21, 2024, gubernatorial election in the state.
The three-member panel of the tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, reserved judgment on March 3 after the parties involved adopted their final briefs of argument.
It will be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election on September 22, 2024, with 291,667 votes.
Ighodalo, the PDP candidate, garnered 247,274 votes, while Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) received 22,763 votes.
Dissatisfied with the results, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, alleging that the election was marred by irregularities, including over-voting, lack of ballot serialisation, errors in collation, and miscalculations of results.
During the hearings, the petitioners called 19 witnesses and summoned a senior technical officer from INEC’s ICT department.
The officer presented 154 BVAS machines as evidence to support claims of over-voting.
In the case marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, INEC did not call any witnesses, while Okpebholo presented one witness and the APC brought forward four witnesses to defend their positions.
In their final written addresses, the petitioners, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Adetunji Oyeyipo, claimed that there was a wrong computation of results in 765 polling units across the state.
They further alleged that results from these units were manipulated at the collation centres.
The petitioners are urging the tribunal to annul the Certificate of Return issued to Okpebholo and declare Ighodalo as the winner of the election.
On the other hand, all the respondents in the case, including INEC, Okpebholo, and the APC, have urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition, asserting that it lacks merit.
INEC’s lead counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kanu Agabi, pointed out that the petitioners’ reliefs were inconsistent with their case, as they claimed the election was invalid due to alleged non-compliance but still sought to be declared the winner.
Agabi also noted that despite challenging results from numerous polling units, the petitioners only called five polling unit agents to testify.
Governor Okpebholo’s counsel, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, argued that the Supreme Court had previously ruled that over-voting could not be proven without examining the BVAS machines.
He claimed that the petitioners simply presented the BVAS machines as evidence without demonstrating the alleged over-voting.
Similarly, the APC’s lawyer, Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, stated that the petitioners failed to meet their legal burden of proof, particularly regarding the over-voting claim.
He called for the dismissal of the petition due to lack of merit.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
