Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
The 2024 Edo State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Asue Ighodalo, along with his party yesterday at the Election Petition Tribunal in Benin City, tendered more documentary evidence to support their petition.
Recall that Ighodalo and the PDP who are contesting the conduct of the election had on Friday opened their case by tendering over 1,000 documents before the court.
All the documents during Friday’s proceedings were provisionally admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits by the Tribunal despite objections from counsel to the respondents – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Monday Okpebholo, and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The respondents’ counsel reserved their reasons for their objections to the admissibility of the documents at the address stage.
At the closure of proceedings on Friday, the tribunal, headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, adjourned sitting to yesterday, for continuation of hearing on the petition.
At the resumption of the hearing yesterday, some of the additional documents tendered from the Bar by counsel to the petitioners, Ken Mozia (SAN), include 55 Certified True Copies (CTCs) of polling Units Voters register used in the election.
Mozia also tendered the CTCs of 56 accreditation figures of extracts from INEC’s Bimodal Voters Accreditation Systems Machines.
The counsel further tendered 72 CTCs of extracts of accreditation figures from the BVAS device.
Additionally, Mozia tendered 75 Certified True Copies of INEC’s Results Viewing containing Form EC8A and 70 CTCs of INEC’s Polling Units Booklets, containing Form EC25B.
Also tendered were 66 copies of Polling Units Voters Register and 125 copies of Form EC8A from IREV (all Certified True Copies)
The counsel again tendered 125 copies of Form EC8A from IREV, directly certified by INEC, 101 copies of Form EC8A, CTC of Edo State BVAS of Polling Unit by Polling Unit’s report as well as certificate of compliance by INEC.
In further support of the petitioners’ case, Mozia also tendered in court the CTC of Certificate of Compliance with BVAS machines’ report in respect of the 133 Polling Units earlier tendered as exhibit in the petition.
He said: “My Lords, we wish to tender a CTC of a Copy of serial numbers BIVAS machines’ deployed to 133 Polling Units and a Certificate of Compliance.”
However, counsel to the trio respondents, Abdullahi Aliyu (SAN), Offiong Offiong (SAN), and Chief Ferdinand Orbih, (SAN) raised objections to the admissibility of the documents.
They, however, reserved their reasons for their objections to the admissibility of the petitioners’ documents at the address stage.
Particularly, while counsel to the 1st Respondent (INEC), Aliyu did not object to the admission of certificate of compliance with BVAS machines used in 133 polling units, counsel to the 2nd and 3rd respondents, Offiong and Orbih objected and reserved their reasons.
Ighodalo and the PDP approached the tribunal, challenging INEC’s declaration of Okpebholo as the winner of the September 21, 2024 guber election.
Ighodalo is urging the court to declare him the winner of the election, claiming he scored the highest valid votes cast in the exercise.
Hearing on the petition continues on Monday, January 20, 2025.
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