The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has finally affirmed the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the September 21, 2024 governorship poll in Edo State.
On Wednesday in Abuja, the three-man panel of the tribunal upheld the election as being validly conducted, just as it dismissed the petition brought before it by Asue Ighodalo and the Peoples Democratic Party.
GALAXY TV reports that chairman of the tribunal, Justice Wilfred Kpochi delivered the landmark judgment on Wednesday evening.
Among others, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove over-voting and also failed to call relevant witnesses
Besides, Justice Kpochi asserted that Ighodalo and PDP did not speak to the documents they tendered, instead the documents were dumped on the tribunal
To prove over-voting, the tribunal said that the two petitioners are required by law to tender the voter’s register, BVAS and EC8A which they did not do according the requirements of the law.
Similarly, the tribunal Chairman held that no eye witnesses were called to testify on alleged over-voting and such making the allegations unbelievable.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had last year declared Okpebholo and APC winners of the governorship election having polled a majority votes 291, 667 to defeat his closet rival, Ighodalo of PDP, who garnered 247, 655 votes.
Not satisfied with the declaration, PDP and Ighodalo had sued the INEC praying for nullification of Okpebholo’s victory on the grounds of irregularities and non-compliance with the electoral laws.
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