The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Thursday, upheld the election of Monday Okpebholo as the Governor of Edo State, affirming his victory in the September 21, 2024 governorship election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Mohammed Danjuma, a three-member panel of the appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo.
The court found Mr. Ighodalo’s appeal to be “devoid of merit.”
Justice Danjuma stated that the PDP and Ighodalo failed to demonstrate any miscarriage of justice in the earlier ruling by the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal, which had also dismissed the petition brought by the two appellants.
Persecondnews reported that INEC had declared Okpebholo of the APC the winner of the election, securing 291,667 votes, defeating the PDP and Ighodalo, who garnered 247,655 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, Ighodalo and the PDP filed a petition with the tribunal, listing INEC, Okpebholo, and the APC as the first to third respondents.
They argued that Okpebholo did not secure the majority of lawful votes, alleging widespread irregularities, over-voting, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
They sought to nullify the election, citing issues including non-serialisation of ballot papers, incorrect collation of figures, and computational errors in 765 polling units.
They also accused INEC of failing to serialise and pre-record sensitive electoral materials, thereby enabling alleged rigging in favour of the APC.
The tribunal, in its judgment, ruled that Ighodalo and the PDP failed to substantiate their allegations, leading to the dismissal of their petitions.
The petitioners proceeded to the Appeal Court to contest the judgment.
Details later…
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