The Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, affirmed Senator Monday Okpebholo as the governor.

A three-member panel headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, against the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.

In its judgment, the panel ruled that the petitioners failed to call competent witnesses to prove the allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

‎‎In the lead judgment read by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, the Tribunal said non-compliance must be proven convincingly. It noted that the failure of the petitioners to call polling unit officers, presiding officers or even voters during the election proved fatal to their petition.

The Tribunal stated that most of the 19 witnesses called by the PDP merely gave hearsay evidence during the proceedings.

‎‎Justice Kpochi faulted what he termed as the PDP’s reliance on Section 137 of the Electoral Act to dump documents on the Tribunal. The Tribunal noted that it’s not for it to scrutinise documents tendered by the petitioners.

‎‎The Edo Tribunal further said the BVAS machines tendered by the petitioners remain dormant, as it’s not the duty of the Tribunal to access the data in the machines.

‎‎In the unanimous decision, the Tribunal thereby restated that to prove overvoting as alleged by Ighodalo and the PDP, there’s a need to tender the voters register, BVAS machines and polling unit results or Forms EC8A.

Following that, the Tribunal dismissed the petition of Asue Ighodalo, candidate of PDP for lacking merit.

‎‎INEC had declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo who got 247,655 votes. PDP approached the Tribunal to challenge the results from 765 polling units of the 4,519 units in Edo State.

‎The PDP candidate faulted the outcome of the election on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and the failure of Monday Okphebholo to secure a majority of the lawful votes cast. Putting that in context, the PDP governorship candidate alleged improper computation of votes by INEC, non-serialisation of electoral materials and over-voting.

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Tuesday, received a rousing welcome from her supporters and residents of the Ihima community of Kogi State, despite the government’s ban on rallies and processions.

As early as 8am, her supporters from the five local government areas of Kogi Central Senatorial District that Akpoti-Uduaghan represents flooded the Ihima community of Okehi Local Government Area (LGA) to welcome the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker.

Several local musicians took turns entertaining the people who attended the celebration while they awaited the arrival of the female lawmaker.

It did not, however, take long before the embattled senator arrived at the place in a white helicopter, eliciting applause from her teeming, jubilant supporters.

“Yesterday, we heard on the news that rallies and gatherings will not be allowed, that roads will be blocked, and convoys leading into the state will not be allowed. I knew that we were the targets. But then I said, this is not political season, this is not campaign time,” the lawmaker told her supporters and constituents.

“We are not having a rally. This is just me, the Senator representing Kogi Central, coming down to her people to celebrate this festive time –  the Sallah with you, and there is nothing wrong with that. I am breaking no law. This is Nigeria. We have the right to be free, to express our choice in gatherings and celebrations.”

Her return comes hours after the Kogi State Government banned public gatherings and processions, citing security threats.

This was followed by the imposition of a curfew in the area by the Okehi Local Government Area chairman, Amoka Monday, and a warning from the police for her to cancel the event.

Despite the warnings, the lawmaker told the crowd of supporters that no one can stop her from coming home.

“Nobody and nothing can stop me from coming home. I’m an Ebira woman; this is my land. I’m the daughter of the late Jimoh Abdul Akpoti. I know my roots; I’m not a bastard, and I’m not afraid of anybody,” the PDP senator said.

The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, has
scheduled Wednesday, April 2, 2025, to deliver its judgment on the petition filed by Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo in the September 21, 2024, gubernatorial election.

A three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, reserved judgment on March 3 after parties in the suit concluded their final arguments.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on September 22 declared Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election with 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who polled 247,274 votes, and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who garnered 22,763 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, alleging widespread irregularities, including
over-voting, ballot serialisation issues, errors in collation, and miscalculations in results.

In the suit marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024,
Ighodalo presented a senior technical officer from INEC’s ICT department as a witness, who tendered 154 BVAS machines as evidence to substantiate claims of
over-voting.

Adopting his final address, Ighodalo further alleged that results from 765 polling units were manipulated at the collation centers and that errors in computation affected the final outcome.

He urged the tribunal to nullify the Certificate of Return issued to Okpebholo and declare him the rightful winner of the election.