Gov Okpebholo’s Election Upheld By Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State.

In a unanimous ruling by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court dismissed as lacking merit an appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo, seeking to nullify the governorship election held on September 21, 2024.

The Supreme Court found no reason to overturn the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, both of which confirmed Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the valid winner.

The court held that the appellant “failed to adduce credible and admissible evidence to substantiate his claim that the election was marred by irregularities that included over-voting and substantial non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act.”

It further noted that the appellant “failed to call relevant witnesses to demonstrate some of the evidence he tendered in support of his case, especially the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines.”

The court emphasized that “some of the proof of evidence, which was tendered from the Bar, was merely dumped on the tribunal without establishing alleged non-compliance in 432 out of a total of 4,519 polling units in the state.”

“The Appellant did not satisfactorily discharge the burden of proof placed on him by the law,” Justice Garba stated in the lead judgment.

Ighodalo had appealed against the May 29 Court of Appeal verdict that dismissed his case and affirmed Okpebholo’s victory, arguing that the appellate court failed to properly evaluate his claims that the election did not comply substantially with the Electoral Act.

The Supreme Court reserved judgment on July 2 after parties submitted their final briefs.

While the PDP urged the court to overturn previous rulings and declare their candidate the winner, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Okpebholo, and the APC urged dismissal of the appeal.

A three-member Court of Appeal panel led by Justice M. A. Danjuma had earlier upheld the tribunal’s May 15 judgment validating INEC’s announced election results.

The tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had dismissed petitions by the PDP, the Action Alliance (AA), and the Accord Party (AP), all challenging Okpebholo’s election.

INEC declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo of the PDP, who scored 247,655 votes.

The petitioners had alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act, improper handling of sensitive materials, manipulation of results in 765 polling units, and over-voting favoring Okpebholo.

They produced 19 witnesses and tendered exhibits, including 153 BVAS machines used in 133 polling units.

However, the tribunal ruled that the petitioners failed to provide credible evidence and competent witnesses to substantiate their claims.

It noted many witnesses gave hearsay evidence, and the failure to produce polling unit agents, presiding officers, or voters was detrimental.

The tribunal stated, “The onus of proving that Governor Okpebholo was unduly returned by INEC rested squarely on the petitioners, a legal burden it said was not successfully discharged.”

It also dismissed claims regarding pre-recording of electoral materials and found none of the BVAS machines were switched on to prove votes exceeded accredited voters.

Following affirmation by the Court of Appeal, Ighodalo’s final appeal to the Supreme Court also failed on Thursday.