Edo gov. poll tribunal: PDP, Ighodalo close case with 19 witnesses

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, closed their case at the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Monday sitting in Abuja.

Persecondnews recalls that Ighodalo and the party had called 19 witnesses to testify before the three-member panel led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi.

The petitioners are challenging the declaration of Sen. Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the gubernatorial contest held in the state on September 21, 2024.

At the resumed proceedings on Monday, the lead counsel for the petitioners, Mr. Robert Emukpoeruo (SAN), informed the tribunal that the petitioners had concluded their case.

The application was submitted shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) presented five additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System(BVAS) machines, which were used during the election.

The electronic devices presented by Mr. Anthony Itodo, a Senior Technical Officer in INEC’s ICT Department, were accepted as evidence, despite objections from all respondents, who reserved their explanations for their final written statements.

Meanwhile, the tribunal had previously accepted 148 BVAS machines as evidence, which were utilized in 133 polling units where the PDP is contesting the election results.

Persecondnews recalls that Okpebholo, formerly representing Edo Central Senatorial District, emerged victorious in the poll.

He was inaugurated as the governor on November 12, 2024.

Okpebholo won the election with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, Dr. Asue Ighodalo of PDP, who secured 247,274 votes.

Seven of 18 political parties that participated in the election, including the PDP, Social Democratic Party (SDP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Accord (A), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and Action Alliance (AA), filed petitions at the tribunal, demanding that their candidates be declared winners of the keenly-contested poll.

Meanwhile, the tribunal has fixed Wednesday, February 5 for INEC to open its defence.