From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, has unanimously upheld the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A three-member panel of the tribunal said, based on the evidence presented before it, it found no reason to nullify the outcome of the governorship contest held in the state on 21 September 2024.
In the lead judgment delivered by the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Wilfred Kpochi, the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo, to challenge the declaration of Governor Okpebholo as the valid winner of the gubernatorial poll was dismissed as lacking merit.
However, in a swift reaction, Ighodalo, through his team of lawyers, vowed to challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal.
The tribunal held that the petitioners failed to establish, by way of credible evidence, why the outcome of the election should be set aside.
It stated that the onus of proving that Governor Okpebholo was unduly returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rested squarely on the petitioners.
The panel said it was trite law that a petitioner must succeed on the strength of their own case and not on the weakness of the defence.
It noted that, contrary to Section 16(1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, the petitioners introduced new facts in their reply that were not contained in their substantive case. The new facts were rejected and struck out by the panel.
However, against the position of the respondents, the panel admitted as valid the documents the petitioners tendered in evidence from the bar.
The tribunal also noted that the petitioners were very detailed in chronicling the wards and polling units where the alleged infractions took place.
Nevertheless, it held that the PDP and its candidate merely dumped exhibits before it without demonstrating them through competent witnesses as required by law.
The tribunal found that most of the witnesses who testified for the petitioners gave hearsay evidence, stressing that the failure to produce polling unit agents, presiding officers, or voters who participated in the election to testify proved fatal to the petitioners’ case.
The tribunal held that Section 137 of the Electoral Act did not preclude the petitioners from producing necessary and competent witnesses to support their case.
It further dismissed the petitioners’ contention that, contrary to the provision of Section 73(2) of the Electoral Act, INEC failed to pre-record most of the materials deployed for the election.
Moreover, the tribunal held that none of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines tendered before it were switched on to demonstrate that the number of votes recorded in the disputed polling units exceeded the total number of accredited voters.
“It is clear that items needed to prove over-voting are: Voters Register, BVAS machines, and Form EC8A,” the tribunal held, noting that the petitioners merely tendered what they termed as BVAS screenshots in aid of their allegation.
It equally held that the petitioners failed to prove their allegation that INEC did not substantially comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act in the conduct of the election.
The tribunal concluded that even if it deducted the votes the petitioners alleged were unlawfully credited to the APC, Governor Okpebholo would still remain the winner of the gubernatorial contest.
Meanwhile, reacting to the judgment, Ighodalo, through his team of lawyers, vowed to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured a total of 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ighodalo of the PDP, who garnered a total of 247,655 votes.
However, dissatisfied with the result, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, alleging that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
In the petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, it was alleged that Governor Okpebholo did not secure the highest number of lawful votes cast in the election.
It was equally the contention of the petitioners that INEC failed to serialise and pre-record some of the sensitive materials deployed for the poll, a situation they said aided the rigging of the election in favour of the APC and its candidate.
The petitioners alleged that there was a wrongful computation of results in 765 polling units in the state, even as they produced 19 witnesses who testified and tendered exhibits before the tribunal.
Among the exhibits the petitioners tendered were a total of 153 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used in 133 polling units.
They alleged that the results from these polling units were manipulated at the collation centres, a situation they said resulted in over-voting in Okpebholo’s favour.