By Abiola Olawale
Residents of Edo State are eagerly awaiting the judgement from the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which is set to be delivered on April 2, 2025.
The judgment will address the outcomes of the governorship election that took place on September 21, 2024.
Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led’s three-member tribunal communicated the judgement date to the parties in the early hours of Tuesday.
The ruling will determine the fate of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose victory is being challenged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had (INEC) declared Okpebholo the winner of the election, stating that he polled 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo, who garnered 247,655 votes.
However, the PDP and Ighodalo swiftly rejected the results, alleging widespread electoral irregularities, including over-voting, non-serialization of ballots, and errors in result collation.
The petitioners had urged the tribunal to nullify Okpebholo’s victory and declare Ighodalo the rightful winner.
During the tribunal proceedings, which relocated from Benin City to Abuja in January due to security concerns, the PDP presented 19 witnesses and submitted 154 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines as evidence to substantiate their claims.
The APC, INEC, and Okpebholo’s legal teams, however, dismissed the petition as baseless, arguing that the evidence lacks merit and fails to justify overturning the election outcome.
Justice Wilfred Kpochi, leading the three-member tribunal panel, reserved judgment on March 3, 2025, after both sides adopted their final written addresses.
