The Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal will today deliver judgment in the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, against the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo.
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The PDP and Ighodalo are challenging the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the poll.
They allege that the election was marred by irregularities.
The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had on March 3 reserved judgment in the petition after parties adopted their final written addresses.
The tribunal will deliver judgment in the three petitions marked: EPT/ED/GOV/01/2024, EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, and EPT/ED/GOV/03/2024.
On January 31, the tribunal had admitted in evidence 148 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines that were used during the conduct of the disputed governorship poll.
The electronic devices were tendered by a Senior Technical Officer in the ICT Department of INEC, Anthony Itodo, and admitted into evidence by the panel.
The petitioners had subpoenaed INEC to produce the BVAS machines that were used in 133 polling units where election results are being disputed.
INEC had declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured a total of 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ighodalo of the PDP, who received a total of 247,655 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, praying it to nullify INEC’s declaration of the APC and Okpebholo as winners of the contest.
The petitioners, among other things, contended that the governorship election was invalid due to alleged non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
However, APC and Okpebholo urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitions as baseless, arguing that the petitioners had failed to substantiate the allegations in their petitions.
Meanwhile, alleged copies of the tribunal’s purported judgment flooded the internet yesterday. In what appeared to be a leak, copies of the judgment made their way online, indicating a two-to-one split in the decision of the tribunal.
According to the viral documents, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Kpochi, and member 1 of the tribunal, Justice A. B. Yusuf, dismissed the petition and affirmed the election of Governor Okpebholo, while the third member, Justice A. A. Adewole, ordered INEC to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Ighodalo of the PDP as the authentic winner of the poll.
In the said minority judgment, Justice Adewole held that Governor Okpebholo’s election was invalid due to non-substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act.
He held that the 2nd Respondent, Governor Okpebholo, was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast and proceeded to nullify his return as the winner of the gubernatorial contest.
“The petitioners’ case was not rebutted and showed unit by unit how the actual total should be 243,113 votes, while the 2nd Respondent’s tally should stand at 210,326 votes—a clear reversal of the declared result,” Justice Adewole was credited with holding in the leaked documents.
However, in the lead and majority decision of the tribunal, its Chairman, Justice Kpochi, held that “while there was credible evidence of non-compliance, particularly concerning section 73(2) (failure to record serial numbers in EC 25B) and section 51(2) (over-voting), the petitioners failed to demonstrate that these breaches substantially affected the outcome of the election as required under section 135(1) of the Electoral Act.
On the issue of the majority of lawful votes, the petitioners established instances of incorrect collation and exclusion of results. However, their mathematical and documentary evidence did not conclusively establish that the margin of lead was overtaken or that they scored the highest number of lawful votes.”
Relying on the Supreme Court’s decisions in Oyetola v. Adeleke, 2023, 10 NWLR (Pt 1892), as well as Atiku v. INEC (2023), 19 NWLR, Pt. 1927, the panel held that the petitioners failed to prove not only that non-compliance occurred but also that it was substantial enough to have affected the result of the election.
The panel added that the petitioners should have tied every complaint to figures, demonstrated the net effect of each infraction, and shown that the outcome would have changed due to the violations.
“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,” the document further read.
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