Hendrix Oliomogbe
Almost four months after its inaugural sitting, the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has at last scheduled Wednesday, April 2, 2025 to deliver its judgment on the September 21, 2024 election.
The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) had on September 22, 2024, declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election with 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 247,274 votes, and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who scored 22,763 votes.
The main opposition PDP challenged the victory of Governor Okpebholo in the election, at the three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi.
Citing over-voting, lack of ballot serialization, errors in collation, and miscalculations in results against INEC, the PDP and its candidate, filed a petition, seeking to overturn the result and declare Ighodalo winner.
Other separate petitions listed include that of the Accord Party, Alliance Party, Social Democratic Party, Allied Peoples Movement, Action Democratic Party, and Zenith Labour Party.
The tribunal was inaugurated by the National Judicial Council (NJC) one week before the election with Muazu Bagudu as its secretary.
The inaugural pre-hearing sitting of the tribunal in the Edo State capital of Benin on December 9, 2025 was marred by violence as rival thugs clashed outside the premises of the court along Sapele Road, almost disrupting activities inside the court room.
Also, echoes of gunshots fired in anger by a baseball cap donning supporter of one of the aggrieved parties on January this year disrupted sitting at the court.
The tribunal subsequently relocated to Abuja over alleged insecurity and intimidation by supporters of the two main candidates, who are both from Edo Central Senatorial district.
During the tribunal hearings, the petitioners presented 19 witnesses and summoned a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT department. The officer provided 154 BVAS machines as evidence to support claims of over-voting.
In the case which was marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, INEC did not call any witnesses in response to the petition. Okpebholo presented one witness, while the APC brought forward four witnesses before concluding their defense.
The three-member panel had at the last seating, stated that the tribunal’s judgment would be delivered at a later date.
“A date for judgment will be communicated to the parties by the Secretary of the tribunal. The tribunal stands adjourned until then,” said Justice Kpochi.
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