Appeal Court of Reserves Judgment in the challenges of PDP against Edo Governor Okpebholo’s victory

The appeal court in Abuja has ordered an assessment in a legal battle on the results of 21 September 2024, the election of governors in the state of Edo, following the appeal submitted by the Democratic Party of the People’s (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.

They challenged the victory of the Governor of Monday Okpebholo from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Supreme Court Judge Panel three members on Thursday heard the argument of three appeals and a cross -appeal submitted in connection with April 2, 2025, which decided by the Edo State Election Petition Court, which strengthened the Okpebholo election. The court then announced that his decision had been reserved and would be sent later to be communicated to the parties.

The Independent National Election Commission (Inec) has stated that Okpebholo is the winner of the election, which states that he gets 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who surveyed 247,655 votes under the PDP banner.

Not happy with the results, Ighodalo and PDP submitted a petition before the court, mentioned Inec, Okpebholo, and APC as the first to the third respondent. The Petitioners accuse widespread deviations, too much voting, and substantial non-compliance with the provisions of the Election Law during the implementation of the poll.

They argue that the election must be canceled due to several procedural failures, including non-serious ballots, errors in the collection of results, and the calculation of defects that affect the results in 765 voting units. The applicants also accused Inec of failing to pre-record sensitive selection materials, the hose that they claimed allowed manipulation that supported APC.

However, the court rejected the petition, which stated that PDP and Ighodalo failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their claims. Not satisfied with the decision, the applicants took their case to the appeal court.

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During the trial on Thursday, the main advisor to Ighodalo, Robert Emukpoeruo (SAN), urged the appeal court to override the court’s decision. He argued that the court was wrong in his assessment of the applicant’s claim, especially regarding the absence of serial numbers on the EC25B form, which he said opposed to section 73 (2) of the 2022 Election Law.

He also challenged the characterization of the court for their evidence presentation, which stated: “The court failed to evaluate our claims, especially regarding the absence of serial numbers on the EC25B form, as required in section 73 (2) of the selection of the 2022 Election Law.”

Emukpoeruo added: “We did not throw documents into the court. Our case was built around the difference between the results of the voting unit and the environmental level.”

To defend the court’s decision, Okpebholo’s adviser, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), stated that the applicants failed to prove their accusations. He argues that the relevant serial number is on the EC40A form and not the EC25B form as claimed, adding that the critical form of EC25D has never been submitted by the applicants.

APC’s legal representative, Emmanuel Ukala (San), also urged the appeal court to reject the appeal. He argued that the petition makers failed to meet the burden of proof, mainly because they only called 19 witnesses – five of whom were voting units – despite contests in 765 voting units.

“Under section 73 (2) and 137 from the 2022 Election Law, they are expected to call witnesses from each voting unit challenged,” Ukala said. He further noted: “Even though they registered the EC25D form in their petition, they failed to submit it. The serial number they rely on should be captured in the form of EC25D, not EC25B.”

Inec’s advisor, Kanu Agabi (San), was in line with the position of APC and Okpebholo, urged the appeal court to uphold a court decision and reject an appeal.

Leading the trial, Judge Danjuma stated that the verdict had been reserved and would be sent on the date to be communicated to all parties involved.

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