Edo poll: Ighodalo heads for A’Court as tribunal affirms Okpebholo gov

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party at last year’s election in Edo State, Asue Ighodalo, says he will appeal the judgment of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, which affirmed Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress the winner of the September 21, 2024 poll.

The Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led three-member panel, in a unanimous judgment, dismissed the petition of the PDP and Ighodalo for their inability to prove the allegation of over-voting, affirming that Okpebholo scored the highest number of valid votes in the election.

The tribunal faulted how the petitioners proved their evidence in relation to the allegations brought before it.

But Ighadalo, in a statement on Wednesday, stated in clear terms that he was dissatisfied with the tribunal ruling, adding that he would appeal the judgment.

“Today (Wednesday), the Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has delivered its judgment in our petition challenging the outcome of the September 21st, 2024 governorship election in our dear state,” Ighodalo stated.

“While we all may not agree with the verdict, we remain steadfast in our belief that the rule of law must remain the bedrock of our democracy. Our pursuit of justice in this regard is an affirmation of our firm belief that the right of the good people of Edo State to freely choose their leaders through a credible, free, and fair electoral process must never be compromised.

“As a committed democrat, I respect the judiciary as the last hope of the common man, and I urge all of you, our dear good people of Edo State, to remain peaceful, calm, and law-abiding in the aftermath of this judgment. However, let it be clear: this is not the end of our journey, but the beginning of a greater struggle for justice, democracy, and the sanctity of the people’s mandate freely conferred on my running mate, Osarodion Ogie, and me on the platform of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party.”

Ighodalo further stated that he had instructed his legal team to proceed to the Court of Appeal to challenge the tribunal’s decision.

“From the very beginning, your massive show of support, sincere love, and belief in our shared vision for a prosperous Edo State have been the driving force behind this journey. For us, it has never been about the realisation of a personal ambition but about our conviction to create a clear pathway to prosperity for all Edo people while upholding the foundational values of democracy, justice, and the will of the people.

“I have, therefore, instructed my legal team to proceed to the Court of Appeal to challenge this decision, which we consider a huge travesty of justice. This is not about me or any single individual; it is about the very essence of democracy, the preservation of our collective right to freely determine our future, and the legacy we leave for generations to come,” Ighodalo said.

Also, the Campaign Director of the Asue/Ogie Campaign Council, Mathew Iduoriyekemwen, described the judgment as a miscarriage of justice, noting that his party and its candidate disagree with the judgment.

He said, “First of all, our lawyers are studying the judgment to see the reasons why and how the tribunal reached their conclusion. But listening to the language of the judgment, you will see that it tallies with what some members of the All Progressives Congress have been saying during the hearing of the case. They had said we came to dump BVAS and document in court.

“Mind you all the documents we presented in court were certified true copies by INEC, which they did not object to at the tribunal. If INEC had said the document did not emanate from them, may be that could have raised some doubt and there would have been the need to double check.

“Our lawyers did fantastically well to prove the issue of over voting and did this with thorough enumeration and calculation. And when there are cases of over-voting, you cancel those polling units. We did our tabulation and Ighodalo won 12 out of the 18 local government areas with over 30,000 votes.

“Definitely, we will appeal this judgment and if we had won today, the APC would have appealed too. We disagree with the judgment; it is a miscarriage of justice.”

Governor Okpebholo, in his remarks, dedicated his victory to God and thanked the APC leadership for their support, adding that the tribunal judgment was a call to further transform the state.

He stated on his X handle, “Today, the Tribunal affirmed the mandate graciously given to me by the good people of Edo State. This victory belongs to God and to every Edo citizen who believes in our collective vision for a better, more prosperous state.

“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and its leadership for their unwavering support and commitment to democracy. With this judgment, we move forward with even greater determination to deliver practical governance and drive the transformation of Edo State.

“The journey continues. Together, we will make Edo great.”

The acting chairman of Edo APC, Jarret Tenebe, said Okpehbolo’s victory was not a time to celebrate but to continue the good work the governor began after he was elected, noting the government would do more to improve the lives of the people.

He said, “I will say that the verdict affirming Okpehbolo as the Governor of Edo State is a victory for democracy, Edo State and Nigeria as a whole.

“I call on other political parties to join hands with Okpehbolo to deliver the dividends of democracy as the judgment showed that the people voted for Okpehbolo.”

After the conclusion of the conduct of the 2024 governorship poll, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Okpebholo, sponsored by the APC, as the winner of the election.

While Okpebholo polled 291, 667 emerging the winner of the election, Ighodalo and PDP polled 247,655 votes in second position.

Dissatisfied with the election result, PDP and Ighodalo dragged INEC, Okpebholo and APC before the tribunal.

The petitioners, in a petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, alleged that Okpebholo did not score the highest number of votes in the election, adding that the election was marred by irregularities and corrupt practices.

The petitioners alleged high record of over voting in the election and prayed the tribunal to nullify the election over non-serialisation of ballots, incorrect collation of figures, and erroneous computation of scores in 765 polling units.

The petitioners also claimed that the election was marred by non-compliance of the Electoral Act.

It was equally the contention of the petitioners that INEC failed to serialise and pre-record some of the sensitive materials that were deployed for the poll, a situation they said aided the rigging of the election in favour of the APC and its candidate.

In the course of the trial, the petitioners called 19 witnesses to defend their claim that the election was marred with irregularities and should be nullified, INEC the 1st respondent did not call any witness(es).

Meanwhile, the petitioners subpoenaed a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT Department, who tendered 154 BVAS machines from133 polling units to the tribunal to support their allegations of over-voting.

Okpebholo, the second respondent in the petition, called a lonesome witness while the APC on its part called four witnesses before closing its defence.

While the petitioners urged the tribunal to nullify the election as they had presented sufficient evidence to prove their allegations, the respondents prayed the tribunal to dismiss the petition on the grounds that the contentions of the petitioners were without merit.

They claimed the petitioners failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt their claims that Ighodalo, not Okpebholo won the election.

The judgment, which was delivered by the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Kpochi, held that the petitioners did not convince the court in linking the allegations to the evidence tendered.

The tribunal held that it was clear that the documents, which include voters register, BVAS machine and form EC8a, were required to prove the allegations of over-voting but the petitioners failed to demonstrate it.

Adding that most of the witnesses that testified for the petitioners gave hearsay evidence, the tribunal held that section 137 of the Electoral Act did not preclude the petitioners from producing necessary and competent witnesses to testify in support of their case.

“We hold that the failure by the petitioners to call polling unit agents presiding officers or other registered voters was fatal to the case.

“It still remains the law that documents do not speak for themselves. A petitioner must prove his evidence. The allegation of noncompliance must be proved.

“It is not for us to sit back and look at it. Among the other plentitude of documents dumped on us, we still require evidence that shows that there was extra recording of votes.

“The BVAS machine was clearly dumped and remains dormant. None of the witnesses could speak to the BVAS machine. The machines were not demonstrated to prove the allegations of over-voting.

“We cannot be bamboozled under the semantics. We would rather follow the road map as shown by the apex Court.

“All the evidence documents tendered by the petitioners to prove over voting fall short of requirements.

“The law requires that the petitioners shall call witnesses to link the evidences rendered.

“First issue resolved against the petitioners,” Justice Kpochi stated.

The tribunal held that when an election was conducted in flagrant disobedience to the orders of the electoral act, such an election is said to be conducted not in compliance with the electoral act, but the petitioners failed to prove that the Independent National Electoral Commission did not comply with the provisions of the electoral act in the conduct of the elections.

“The petitioners failed to prove that the first defendant did not comply with the provisions of the electoral act or INEC rules of conduct as required by law.”

The tribunal also held that as against the petitioners’ claims by their witnesses, there is serial numbers on the ballot papers. “There are figures here,” Justice Kpochi said.

The tribunal dismissed the allegation that there was no prior recording of the electoral material before the commencement of voting.

The tribunal said the onus of proving that the second respondent was declared winner by INEC when the electoral body should not have rested squarely on the petitioners to prove to the tribunal as a petitioner must succeed on the strength of his own case and not on the weakness of the defence.

The tribunal also held that the new facts introduced by the petitioners in their response that were not contained in their substantive case was alien to the tribunal and struck out by the panel.

Earlier, the tribunal dismissed the petition of the Action Alliance against Okpebholo and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

AA had, in its petition, also challenged Okpebholo’s declaration as the winner of governorship election in Edo State.

The petition instituted against the respondents by the Action Alliance and one Adekunle Rufai Omoaje was dismissed by the tribunal for lacking merit.

In a similar vein, the tribunal also struck out the petition filed by the Accord Party challenging Okpebholo as the election winner.

The tribunal held that the Accord Party and its governorship candidate failed to prove their allegations as stated in the petition beyond reasonable doubt.

It also rejected the request by the political party to order the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh governorship election in the state.

Wike congratulates Okpebholo

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory , Nyesom Wike, has congratulated Governor Okpebholo on his victory at the election tribunal.

In a statement on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, Wike described the tribunal ruling as a further confirmation of the mandate freely given to Okpebholo by the people of Edo State.

He urged the governor to remain focused on governance and not to be distracted by those seeking power “through the back door.”

“The victory is for the people of Edo State who elected Governor Okpebholo,” Wike stated.

“I believe in him, and with the way he has started, I am confident that his government will have a positive impact on Edo State and its people.”