politics

Edo Governorship election petition tribunal to deliver judgment on wednesday

Published

1 year ago

April 1, 2025

The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal is set to deliver its judgment on Wednesday regarding the petition filed by the PDP and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, challenging the declaration of Monday Okpebholo as the winner of the September 21, 2024 election

The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal is poised to deliver its judgment on Wednesday, concerning the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, against the September 21, 2024 governorship election results.

The PDP and Ighodalo are contesting the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which declared Sen. Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election.

The petitioners allege that the election was marred by irregularities, including non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had previously reserved judgment on March 3, 2024, after the final written addresses from the parties involved. The judgment will cover three petitions marked EPT/ED/GOV/01/2024, EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, and EPT/ED/GOV/03/2024.

Notably, the tribunal had admitted 148 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, which were used during the disputed governorship election.

These machines, tendered by INEC’s Senior Technical Officer Anthony Itodo, were presented as evidence by the petitioners, who had subpoenaed INEC to produce the BVAS used in 133 polling units where the results were in dispute.

INEC had declared Okpebholo as the winner of the election with a total of 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who received 247,655 votes. Dissatisfied with the result, the PDP and Ighodalo are urging the tribunal to nullify the outcome of the election.

On the other hand, the APC and Okpebholo have asked the tribunal to dismiss the petitions, arguing that the allegations by the petitioners are baseless and lack sufficient evidence. The case has drawn significant attention, with many eagerly awaiting the tribunal’s final decision.