The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the Edo State Governorship Election, Asue Ighodalo, has announced that he will appeal the recent ruling by the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The tribunal, sitting in Abuja, delivered a unanimous decision on Wednesday, affirming that Okpebholo’s win in the September 2024 election was valid.
The three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, rejected the petition filed by Ighodalo and the PDP, who had contested the election results.
They argued that the election did not meet the standards set by the Electoral Act, 2022, claiming irregularities, including over-voting and the mishandling of election materials.
Governor Okpebholo was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), having secured 291,667 votes, while Ighodalo garnered 247,655 votes.
In their petition, the PDP alleged that the election process had been manipulated in favor of Okpebholo, particularly in 765 polling units where they claimed results were falsified.
Despite presenting 19 witnesses and submitting several pieces of evidence, including documents related to the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, the tribunal found that Ighodalo and the PDP had not proven their case.
The panel noted that the petitioners failed to provide key witnesses, such as polling unit agents, to support their claims.
The tribunal further stated that the petitioners’ allegations of over-voting were unsupported, as they did not demonstrate that the number of votes cast exceeded the number of accredited voters in the disputed polling units.
With this ruling, the tribunal concluded that even if the contested votes were removed, Okpebholo would still remain the winner.
In response to the judgment, Ighodalo’s legal team vowed to take the case to the Court of Appeal, continuing their fight against the election results.
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