The Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja has upheld Senator Monday Okpebholo’s election as the Governor of Edo State, dismissing the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.

A three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, ruled that the petitioners failed to provide credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice and non-compliance with the Electoral Act during the 21 September 2024 governorship election.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Kpochi emphasised that allegations of non-compliance must be proven convincingly. The tribunal noted that the petitioners did not present polling unit officers, presiding officers, or voters as witnesses, which significantly weakened their case.

The panel further stated that most of the 19 witnesses called by the PDP provided hearsay evidence, which was insufficient to support the claims of electoral irregularities. Justice Kpochi also criticised the PDP’s attempt to rely on Section 137 of the Electoral Act to submit documents without proper scrutiny, stating that it was not the tribunal’s responsibility to analyse such evidence.

Regarding the BVAS machines submitted by the petitioners, the tribunal ruled that they remained “dormant” as the panel was not required to extract or assess the data contained within them. It reiterated that proving over-voting required presenting voters’ registers, BVAS machine data, and polling unit results (Forms EC8A).

In light of these findings, the tribunal dismissed the PDP’s petition, citing a lack of merit.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Okpebholo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the election with 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo of the PDP, who secured 247,655 votes. The PDP had challenged the election results in 765 of the 4,519 polling units across the state, alleging discrepancies in vote computation, non-serialisation of electoral materials, and over-voting.