Tribunal affirms Monday Okpebholo as Edo governor

Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has affirmed Monday Okpebholo as the duly elected Governor of Edo State, dismissing petitions challenging his victory.

In a series of three judgments delivered on Wednesday, the tribunal rejected petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Action Alliance (AA), and Accord Party (AP), ruling that they failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice.

The tribunal particularly criticised the PDP’s failure to present credible evidence to support allegations of overvoting and electoral irregularities.

The panel held that the party did not call polling unit agents as witnesses from all the units where it had alleged irregularities took place.

READ ALSO: Edo Gov Tribunal strikes out Action Alliance’s petition against Okpebholo

However, the tribunal noted that out of the 19 witnesses presented by the PDP, 14 were ward and local government agents.

In contrast, the party’s “star witness,” who claimed to be a Director of Strategy, played no direct role in the conduct of the election.

The tribunal found this inadequate to prove the allegations of malpractice.

The tribunal further ruled that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) reports tendered by the petitioners were merely “dumped” on the court without proper analysis or corroboration.

This, it held, rendered the evidence insufficient to alter the outcome of the election.

The Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, had dismissed petitions filed by the AA and the Accord Party, challenging the election of Governor Okpebolo.

In its ruling on Wednesday, the tribunal struck out the petition filed by AA and its candidate, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, describing it as lacking merit and frivolous.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo the winner of the governorship election with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest opponent, Asue Ighodalo of the PDP, who garnered 247,655 votes.

Similarly, the tribunal, which held its proceedings at the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja, dismissed the petition lodged by the Accord Party.

The court ruled that the party and its governorship candidate, Dr. Bright Enabulele, failed to substantiate their allegations of electoral malpractice.

The petitioners had claimed widespread incidents of ballot stuffing, voter harassment, and thuggery, but the tribunal noted that they failed to provide credible evidence or name any specific perpetrators.

Furthermore, the tribunal observed inconsistencies in the petitioners’ arguments—on the one hand, they alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act. They sought the nullification of the election, while on the other hand, they requested to be declared the winners of the same election, which they claimed was flawed.

In its final ruling, the tribunal concluded that there was no substantial evidence warranting the annulment of the election results.

It reaffirmed Okpebholo’s victory, stating that the election was conducted in compliance with the law and properly declared by INEC.

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