The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja on Wednesday affirmed Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the valid winner of the September 21 governorship election.
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In a unanimous judgment, the three-member panel led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Asuerime Ighodalo.
The tribunal ruled that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations of over-voting and upheld that Okpebholo secured the highest number of valid votes.
The tribunal also criticised the manner in which the petitioners presented their evidence, stating that it did not sufficiently support their claims.
Recall that INEC declared that Okpebholo won the Edo governorship election with 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who garnered 247,655 votes.
Unhappy with the result, the PDP and its candidate took the matter to the tribunal, arguing that the election did not follow the rules set by the Electoral Act of 2022.
In their petition, marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, they claimed that Okpebholo did not win the highest number of lawful votes.
They also accused INEC of not properly numbering and pre-recording some sensitive election materials, which they said allowed for rigging in favour of the APC.
The PDP and Ighodalo further alleged that the results in 765 polling units were wrongly calculated.
They brought 19 witnesses and submitted evidence, including 153 BVAS machines used in 133 polling units.
They claimed that votes were manipulated at collation centres, leading to over-voting in Okpebholo’s favour.
However, in its judgment on Wednesday, the tribunal stated that the petitioners did not provide enough evidence to prove their case.
It ruled that the burden of proving that Okpebholo was wrongly declared the winner rested on the PDP and Ighodalo.
The panel emphasised that petitioners must prove their cases with solid evidence rather than rely on weaknesses in the opponent’s defence.
It also pointed out that the petitioners introduced new facts not included in their original petition, which were later struck out.
Despite opposition from the respondents, the tribunal accepted the documents the petitioners submitted as evidence.
It acknowledged that the petitioners listed the polling units and wards where they claimed irregularities occurred.
However, the tribunal ruled that the PDP and its candidate only submitted documents without properly explaining them through credible witnesses, which weakened their case, noting that most of the witnesses provided hearsay evidence and that failing to bring polling unit agents, presiding officers, or voters as witnesses seriously hurt their argument.
The tribunal also dismissed their claim that INEC did not follow proper procedures in handling election materials.
It pointed out that none of the BVAS machines presented were turned on to prove that the number of votes recorded in the disputed polling units exceeded the number of accredited voters.
“It is clear that to prove over-voting, you need the Voter Register, BVAS machines, and Form EC8A,” the tribunal stated, adding that the petitioners only provided screenshots of BVAS data rather than the actual devices.
The tribunal concluded that even if the votes the petitioners disputed were removed, Okpebholo would still have won the election.
Meanwhile, Ighodalo’s legal team vowed to challenge the judgment at the Court of Appeal.
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