Edo governorship election: Tribunal delivers judgment in PDP’s petition

The Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal will on Wednesday, deliver judgment in the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, against the Sept. 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo.

The PDP and Ighodalo are challenging the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Sen. Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the poll.

They alleged that the election was marred by irregularities.

It was reported that the three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had, on March 3, reserved judgment in the petition after parties adopted their final written addresses.

The tribunal will deliver judgment in the three petitions marked: EPT/ED/GOV/01/2024, EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024 and EPT/ED/GOV/03/2024.

It was reported that the tribunal had, on Jan. 31, admitted in evidence, 148 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System Machines (BVAS) that were used during the conduct of the disputed governorship poll.

The electronic devices were tendered by a Senior Technical Officer in the ICT Department of INEC, Anthony Itodo, and admitted in evidence by the panel.

The petitioners had subpoenaed INEC to produce the BVAS machines that were used in 133 polling units where election results are being disputed.

INEC had declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured a total of 291, 667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ighodalo of the PDP, who got a total of 247, 655 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, praying it to nullify INEC’s declaration of the APC and Okpebholo as winners of the contest.

The petitioners, among other things, contended that the governorship election was invalid because of alleged non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

However, APC and Okpebholo urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitions for being baseless, arguing that the petitioners had failed to substantiate the allegations in their petitions.