The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, yesterday affirmed Mr Monday Okpebholo as the winner of the Edo State governorship election held on September 21, 2024 and dismissed the appeals by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Mr Asue Ighodalo.
Delivering judgment, a three-member panel of the court led by Justice Mohammed Danjuma, unanimously held that the appellants failed to show that the election tribunal erred in its decision and proceeded to affirm the judgment of the tribunal.
Recall that Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo who got 247,274 votes and Mr Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) who polled 22,763 votes.
The APC candidate won in over 10 of the 18 local government areas, leaving the PDP candidate with marginal victory in the other local councils.
Okpebholo was immediately declared elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, Ighodalo approached the election petition tribunal, praying it to disqualify Okpebholo but a three-member panel headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi dismissed the petition in its judgement.
The panel ruled that Ighodalo, alongside other petitioners like the Accord Party, failed to call competent witnesses to prove the allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
In the lead judgment read by 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.
Ighodalo further headed to the Appeal Court to seek redress but the appellate court yesterday held that the PDP and Ighodalo failed to establish a miscarriage of justice in the judgment of the election petition tribunal which had earlier dismissed the petition of the two appellants.
The court held that it found no reason to dislodge the judgement of the tribunal, which validated the declaration of Okpebholo as winner of the gubernatorial contest.
Premium Times reported that the court also upheld Okpebholo’s cross-appeal which led the justices to expunge from the records some pieces of evidence the lower tribunal had admitted in favour of Ighodalo’s case.
Upholding Okpebholo and other respondents’ arguments, the Court of Appeal agreed that the tribunal was correct to hold that the PDP and its candidate merely “dumped” their evidence on the tribunal.
It said they failed to demonstrate how their evidence supported their claims of non-compliance and over-voting. The appellants could not switch on the BVAS machines they tendered at the tribunal throughout the trial.
The court also held that they could have demonstrated the usefulness of their evidence by calling witnesses to speak to the exhibits but failed to do so.
According to the court, the few witnesses presented by the PDP and its candidate only testified on issues “unrelated” to the matters before the tribunal. It said they did not testify on what they observed at the polling units and collation centres.
According to the court, the appellants’ claims of collation of incorrect scores in polling units were not proved
Agreeing with Okpebholo’s cross-appeal, the judges held that the tribunal erred in admitting the BVAS machines as evidence as requested by the PDP candidate.
It, therefore, expunged from the records the evidence of the 133 BVAS machines tendered at the tribunal by the petitioners.
It held that the tribunal’s decision to admit the BVAS machines as exhibits caused “a miscarriage of justice”.
Meanwhile, the Ighodalo and the PDP had resolved to appeal the judgment to the Supreme Court.
The Edo State chairman of the PDP, Mr Tony Aziegbemi, said after the judgement that the party would challenge it at the Supreme Court and urged the party’s members to stay calm.
“We think that even the judges, especially when they started talking, taking their eyes on what they wrote, you could see some elements of bias in what they were saying. However, we would request that our members stay calm,” he said.
For his part, Okpebholo called on the Ighodalo to accept the judgement of the court.
The appeal was contained in a statement by the governor’s spokesman, Mr Fred Itua.
“Governor Monday Okpebholo commends the judiciary for its diligence and commitment to justice and for once again demonstrating its role as the last hope of the common man.
“This ruling is not just a victory for our party, the ruling All Progressives Congress, but a triumph for democracy and the rule of law in our Edo State,” the statement said.
It added that Okpebholo “has consistently extended an olive branch to all, irrespective of political leanings, emphasising that the development of our dear state remains paramount.”
“He reiterates this call. Now is the time to embrace the spirit of sportsmanship and statesmanship. The legal process has run its course, and the judgment of the Court of Appeal is clear.”
