By Ghazali Ibrahim
The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has delivered a landmark ruling, affirming Monday Okpebholo as the duly elected Governor of Edo State.
The tribunal dismissed petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Action Alliance (AA), and Accord Party (AP) due to insufficient evidence to support their claims of electoral malpractice.
In a series of judgments delivered on Wednesday, the tribunal rejected the petitions, ruling that they failed to provide credible evidence to substantiate their allegations of overvoting, electoral irregularities, and malpractice.
The tribunal particularly criticized the PDP’s failure to present credible evidence, noting that they did not call polling unit agents as witnesses from all the units where they alleged irregularities occurred.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had initially declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest opponent, Asue Ighodalo of the PDP, who garnered 247,655 votes.
The tribunal’s ruling reaffirms Okpebholo’s victory, stating that the election was conducted in compliance with the law and properly declared by INEC.
With this ruling, Okpebholo’s mandate as the Governor of Edo State has been reaffirmed, putting an end to the controversy surrounding the election.
