The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Thursday, confirmed the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State, throwing out the appeal lodged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
Delivering judgment, the appellate court, presided over by Justice M. A. Danjuma and two other justices, ruled that the challenge to the September 21, 2024, gubernatorial election was without merit.
The panel held that there was no justifiable reason to overturn the earlier decision of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had already upheld Okpebholo’s victory.
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The tribunal, in a ruling delivered on May 15, dismissed petitions from not only the PDP and Ighodalo but also the Action Alliance and its chairman, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, as well as the Accord Party and its candidate, Dr. Bright Enabulele.
Each of these petitions had sought to invalidate the electoral victory of Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress (APC), but the tribunal found no solid grounds to do so.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo the winner with a vote tally of 291,667, ahead of Ighodalo who polled 247,655 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, the PDP and Ighodalo filed a petition—marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024—alleging that the election had not complied with key provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
They contended that Governor Okpebholo did not legitimately obtain the majority of lawful votes and that INEC had failed to properly serialise or pre-record some of the election materials, which allegedly enabled vote manipulation in favour of the APC.
One of the core allegations made by the petitioners was the miscalculation of results in 765 polling units. They presented 19 witnesses and tendered multiple exhibits, including 153 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices used in 133 polling units, to back their claims.
According to them, these devices showed discrepancies and evidence of over-voting due to manipulation during collation.
However, in its assessment, the tribunal determined that the PDP and its candidate did not provide convincing or credible evidence to warrant nullification of the election. It noted that the burden of proving that Okpebholo’s declaration as winner was unjustified lay solely on the petitioners, and that burden was not met.
The tribunal further pointed out that the petitioners had presented documents and exhibits without properly substantiating them through direct testimony. Many of the witnesses provided what the tribunal classified as hearsay evidence, and the absence of key figures such as polling unit agents, INEC officials, or voters to corroborate the allegations significantly weakened their case.
Additionally, the tribunal found that claims of INEC’s non-compliance with Section 73(2) of the Electoral Act regarding pre-recording of election materials were not supported by solid evidence. The panel noted that none of the BVAS devices submitted were powered on during the tribunal session to demonstrate irregularities such as over-voting.
The Court of Appeal concurred with the findings of the tribunal, affirming that the PDP’s appeal was unsubstantiated and deserved to be dismissed.
Despite the setback, PDP’s candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo, has vowed to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court, seeking a final judicial review of the election dispute.
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