Less than 24 hours after summoning the involved parties, copies of the long-awaited judgment from the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal have emerged online, stirring controversy and speculation.
The judgment, which had been reserved since March 3, has now reportedly been leaked, revealing a split decision from the three-member panel.
Led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, the tribunal had been hearing a petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Mr. Asuerinme Ighodalo, who challenged the results of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.
The tribunal had scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to deliver its final decision.
However, on Tuesday, documents containing the details of the ruling were widely circulated online, revealing a split decision of 2-1 in favor of Governor Monday Okpebholo’s election.
According to the leaked documents, the tribunal’s chairman, Justice Kpochi, and another panel member, Justice A. B. Yusuf, dismissed the petition and affirmed Governor Okpebholo’s victory, while the third member, Justice A. A. Adewole, issued a dissenting opinion.
Justice Adewole ruled that the election was invalid due to “non-substantial compliance” with the Electoral Act, and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Ighodalo of the PDP as the rightful winner.
Justice Adewole’s minority opinion stated that Governor Okpebholo had not been duly elected by a majority of lawful votes, citing multiple electoral infractions, including incorrect collation and exclusion of results.
The judge argued that, based on the evidence presented, Ighodalo had actually received 243,113 votes, compared to Okpebholo’s 210,326 votes—suggesting a significant reversal of the declared result.
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However, in the majority decision, Justice Kpochi acknowledged evidence of non-compliance with provisions such as the failure to record serial numbers on election materials and over-voting. Yet, the tribunal concluded that these breaches did not significantly affect the outcome of the election.
The majority opinion emphasized that while there were instances of incorrect collation and exclusion of results, the petitioners failed to demonstrate that these issues altered the election’s outcome in a way that would change the result.
Drawing from past Supreme Court rulings, including Oyetola v. Adeleke (2023) and Atiku v. INEC (2023), the tribunal concluded that the petitioners had not met the legal burden required to prove that non-compliance had a substantial impact on the final result.
The judgment stated, “We find that the petitioners have not discharged the dual burden to the satisfaction of the law. Accordingly, the petition lacks merit and is hereby dismissed.”
In the election, INEC had declared Okpebholo of the APC as the winner, with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, Ighodalo of the PDP, who garnered 247,655 votes. Dissatisfied with the outcome, the PDP and Ighodalo filed the petition, alleging irregularities and claiming that the election did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
