The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, has dismissed petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Action Alliance (AA), and Accord Party (AP), which sought to annul the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Edo State Governor.
In its ruling, the Tribunal upheld Okpebholo’s victory, rejecting the petition brought by the PDP and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo. The three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, ruled that the petitioners failed to substantiate claims of over-voting in 320 polling units across all 18 local government areas.
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INEC had declared Okpebholo the winner of the September 21 governorship election, having secured the majority of lawful votes. However, the PDP and Ighodalo challenged the result, alleging non-compliance with electoral laws and over-voting.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Kpochi stated that the PDP failed to prove its claims, as key witnesses were not presented to testify about the alleged irregularities. Although the petitioners called 19 witnesses, including collation agents and a research expert, and submitted election materials such as polling unit results, BVAS reports, and collation results, the Tribunal ruled that their evidence was insufficient.
The court emphasized that election documents alone do not serve as proof unless supported by testimony, noting that the petitioners did not call polling unit agents, ward agents, or registered voters who could have testified about the alleged over-voting. Justice Kpochi further explained that proving over-voting requires three key documents: the Voter Register, BVAS data, and Form EC8A (polling unit results).
“If the number of registered voters is unknown, how can over-voting be established?” he questioned before dismissing the petition.
Similarly, the Tribunal rejected the petition filed by Action Alliance (AA) and its governorship candidate, Dr. Bright Enabulele, who had also sought to nullify Okpebholo’s election based on alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
