By Abiola Olawale
In a decisive ruling on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Edo State, Asue Ighodalo, challenging the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State.
The tribunal affirmed Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of Edo State following the September 21, 2024, election, dealing a blow to the PDP’s claims of electoral irregularities.
The three-member panel, chaired by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, declared that Ighodalo’s petition lacked merit, upholding the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Okpebholo as the winner with 291,667 votes against Ighodalo’s 247,655.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, the three-member panel of the tribunal held that the PDP and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, failed to prove the allegations against the respondents.
The tribunal held that “no competent witnesses were called” to prove the averments in their petition.
It would be recalled that PDP had alleged widespread non-compliance with the Electoral Act, including over-voting and manipulation of results, but the tribunal ruled that the petitioners failed to provide sufficient evidence to overturn the outcome.
The tribunal further held that none of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) machines tendered by a witness who was subpoenaed were switched on to demonstrate that the number of votes recorded in the disputed polling units exceeded the accredited voters.
The court also said the petitioners failed to tender the voter register, adding that the forms EC8A tendered were downloaded copies and not original copies.
“It is clear that items needed to prove over-voting are voters register, BVAS machines and Form EC8A,” the tribunal held.
It further held that the petitioners failed to prove their allegation that INEC did not substantially comply with provisions of the Electoral Act during the conduct of the election.
The tribunal held that even if it deducted the votes the petitioners alleged were unlawfully credited to the APC, Okpebholo would still be the winner of the election.
