Alex Enumah in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has affirmed the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the governor of Edo State.

The tribunal, in a unanimous judgement on Wednesday, held that the petitioners failed to prove their case of over-voting in 320 polling units across the 18 local government areas of the state where elections held, as well as the alleged non-compliance with the electoral laws.

But the petitioners, Asue Ighodalo and his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),  vowed to challenge the judgement of the tribunal at the Court of Appeal.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo, the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the September 21, 2024 governorship election.

The electoral umpire said Okpebholo scored the majority of votes cast at the poll.

Dissatisfied with the declaration, PDP and its governorship candidate, Ighodalo, dragged the governor to the tribunal seeking to nullify the election on grounds of non-compliance with the electoral laws as well as over-voting.

However, delivering judgement yesterday in the petition, the three-member tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, held that the petitioners failed to prove their claim of non-compliance.

Kpochi, who delivered the lead judgement, observed that the claims of non-compliance was not proved because relevant witnesses were not called to give evidence of the alleged act of non-compliance.

In proving its claim of alleged over-voting, PDP and Ighodalo had called 19 witnesses, including collation agents and a research expert, and tendered polling units results, collation results, and other sensitive materials.

However, following a subpoena from the tribunal, INEC tendered the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine, which the petitioners claimed contained different results from the polling unit result sheets issued to party agents.

But the unanimous decision faulted testimonies made by witnesses of the petitioners on the grounds that they were not competent witnesses since they were not the makers of any of the documents presented.

He tribunal faulted the, “Failure to call polling unit agents, ward agents or other registered voters that witnessed the alleged over-voting.”

According to the panel, “Out of the 19 witnesses called only five were polling unit agents, the remaining were ward and LGA collation agents. They are not direct eye witnesses of what transpired at the polling units.”

The court further faulted the petitioners for not speaking to the documents, “since documents does not speak for themselves.”

It added, “Where no evidence is made, it is not the duty of the tribunal to scrutinise the documents for the petitioners.”

The tribunal also held, “We are restrained from looking (open them and look at it).”

Explaining further, the tribunal held that to prove allegations of over-voting, a petitioner must tender three valid documents, namely, voter’s register, BVAS, and Form EC8A (polling unit result).

“How do you prove over-voting if you don’t know the number of the registered voters?” Kpochi asked.

Kpochi further observed that contrary to the position of the petitioners, evidence showed that there was pre-recording of sensitive materials used in the conduct of the election.

Concluding, the tribunal stated that all the pleading and evidence of the petitioners failed to substantiate their claims of non-compliance and over-voting, adding that the 19 witnesses called were far less than 25 per cent of the over 4,000 polling units where the election held.

He subsequently dismissed the claim of alleged non-compliance and over-voting made by the petitioners and went ahead to affirm the declaration of Okpebholo as the lawful winner of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State.

Earlier, the tribunal had also dismissed the petition filed by the Action Alliance (AA) challenging the victory of Okpebholo and APC.

The three-member panel dismissed the petition on the grounds that the case brought by AA was a pre-election matter and outside the jurisdiction of the panel.

Dissatisfied that Okpebholo was declared winner by INEC, the petitioner, a factional chairman of AA, Adekunle Omoaja, citing alleged non-compliance and corrupt practices, had asked the tribunal to declare Okpebholo’s victory as illegal, unlawful, unconditional, null and void.

But, in a unanimous decision, the tribunal held that the case of the petitioner was without merit, incompetent, and frivolous. It added that Omoaje lacked the necessary legal power to approach the tribunal, having not participated in the governorship poll.

The tribunal also held that Omoaje’s grouse against the election was that he was not recognised as National Chairman of AA for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the poll. The panel held that his claims had no basis in the Electoral Act 2022.

While lawyers to Okpebholo hailed the judgement, describing it as upholding the voice of the people as expressed through the ballot, Ighodalo’s lawyers said they would approach the Court of Appeal for further redress.

However, basking in the euphoria of his victory, Okpebholo, who dedicated his victory to the people of Edo State, extended an olive branch to Ighodalo.

A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Fred Itua, said, “Governor Monday Okpebholo wishes to express his profound gratitude to the tribunal for its diligence and fairness.

“He also extends his sincere appreciation to the people of Edo State for their unwavering support and belief in his vision for a prosperous and united state.”

The statement quoted Okpebholo as saying, “This victory is not mine alone, but a victory for every citizen and resident of Edo State. It is a mandate to continue the work we have started, to build a state where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

“We remain committed to our promise of good governance, transparency, and inclusive development.”

Calling on all citizens, including Ighodalo, the governor asked that they join hands with him in the spirit of unity and work together for the progress of Edo State.

According to the statement, “It is time to put aside partisan differences and focus on the common goal of building a better future for our state.

“The administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo remains focused on delivering on its campaign promises and will not be distracted by frivolous litigation.

“The administration is committed to serving the people of Edo State with dedication and integrity.”

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