The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State, dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo, over the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
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Delivering the unanimous judgment on Thursday, a three-member panel of justices led by Justice M. A. Danjuma upheld the earlier ruling of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had validated Okpebholo’s victory.
The appellate court ruled that there was no compelling reason to overturn the tribunal’s May 15 judgment that confirmed Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor.
The tribunal, chaired by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had previously dismissed petitions filed by the PDP and Ighodalo, the Action Alliance (AA) and its National Chairman, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, as well as the Accord Party (AP) and its candidate, Dr. Bright Enabulele, all challenging the election outcome.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo, who secured 247,655 votes. Dissatisfied, the PDP and Ighodalo approached the tribunal with a petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, alleging widespread irregularities, including improper result computation in 765 polling units and the failure of INEC to serialize and pre-record sensitive materials used during the poll.
They also accused INEC of enabling rigging and over-voting in favour of the APC candidate. The petitioners presented 19 witnesses and submitted evidence, including 153 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines from 133 polling units, alleging manipulation during collation.
However, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to substantiate their claims with credible evidence. It ruled that they merely “dumped” exhibits before the court without linking them through proper witness testimony. Most of the witnesses presented gave hearsay evidence, and crucial individuals such as polling unit agents or presiding officers were not produced in court.
The tribunal further stated that the petitioners could not demonstrate that any BVAS machine recorded votes exceeding accredited voters and dismissed the claim that INEC breached Section 73(2) of the Electoral Act.
Affirming the tribunal’s verdict, the Court of Appeal held that the burden of proof was not discharged by the petitioners and upheld the legitimacy of Governor Okpebholo’s election.
Reacting to the ruling, Ighodalo vowed to continue the legal battle at the Supreme Court.
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