Tribunal upholds APC’s Okpebholo election as Edo Gov

The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the election of Monday Okpebholo from the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Governor of Edo State.

In three judgments delivered on Wednesday, the three-member tribunal ruled against the petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo; the Action Alliance (AA) and its National Chairman, Adekunle Omoaje; and the Accord Party with its candidate, Bright Enabulele. The tribunal found all three petitions to be without merit and subsequently dismissed them.

The PDP’s legal team has announced intentions to challenge the tribunal’s decision at the Court of Appeal, asserting that they provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the election was not conducted fairly.

In the lead judgment, the tribunal chairman, Justice Wilfred Kpochi, addressed two critical issues raised by the PDP and Ighodalo. First, he examined whether the petitioners sufficiently proved their claim of the election’s invalidity due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act. Justice Kpochi concluded that the petitioners failed to meet the legal burden of proof required, noting that none of the 19 witnesses they called had direct knowledge of events at the polling units.

Justice Kpochi emphasized that the failure to call polling unit agents or registered voters who could substantiate claims about the election documents undermined the petitioners’ case.

Additionally, the tribunal dismissed the petition from the AA, stating that its candidate was unfairly excluded from the election. The tribunal noted that the AA failed to prove accusations of misconduct and determined that Omoaje lacked standing to challenge the election results, as he was not a candidate himself.

The tribunal’s thorough assessment highlighted the inadequacy of the evidence provided by the petitioners, ultimately leading to the reaffirmation of Okpebholo’s election as governor.