The Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja has dismissed the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, filed against Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The court affirmed Okpebholo as the duly elected governor of Edo State.
The three-man panel of the Tribunal on Wednesday, April 2, upheld the election as being validly conducted.
The chairman of the Tribunal, Wilfred Kpochi, delivered the judgment after many hours of deliberation.
The tribunal, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel, said it found no reason to cancel the outcome of the governorship election held in the state on September 21, 2024.
The panel dismissed the PDP petition as lacking in merit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Okpebholo of the APC got a total of 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ighodalo of the PDP, who secured a total of 247,655 votes.
Dissatisfied with the result, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, alleging that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
The Tribunal had earlier dismissed the petition instituted against Okpebholo by the Action Alliance (AA) and one Adekunle Rufai Omoaje for lacking merit and being frivolous.
The court held that Omoaje had no locus standi to institute the case, as his petition was not based on election-related matters.
Among other points, the Tribunal held that Omoaje did not participate in the governorship election and, as such, had no power to question the validity of the election.
The Tribunal also held that Omoaje’s grievance against the election was that he was not recognised as the National Chairman of the Action Alliance for the purpose of nominating candidates for the poll.
Omoaje had, in his petition, asked the Tribunal to declare the declaration of Okpebholo and APC as winners of the election by INEC as illegal, unlawful, unconditional, and null and void due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The Tribunal also dismissed the petition filed by the Accord Party (AP) against Okpebholo.
The tribunal, in its ruling, held that the petitioners – AP and its candidate in the election, Bright Enabulele- failed to establish their claims with sufficient evidence as required.
A reporter with the ICIR
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