The Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal will on Wednesday deliver its judgment in the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, challenging the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.
The PDP and Ighodalo are contesting the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Sen. Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election.
They argue that the process was marred by irregularities.
The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had reserved judgment on March 3 after all parties presented their final written addresses.
The tribunal will rule on three petitions identified marked EPT/ED/GOV/01/2024, EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, and EPT/ED/GOV/03/2024.
A key aspect of the case was the presentation of 148 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, which were admitted as evidence on January 31.
These devices were brought forward by Anthony Itodo, a Senior Technical Officer in INEC’s ICT Department, following a subpoena by the petitioners.
The machines were reportedly used in 133 polling units where results are being disputed.
DAILY GAZETTE recall that NEC had declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, while Ighodalo received 247,655 votes.
However, the PDP and its candidate have asked the tribunal to nullify this result, citing alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.
On the other hand, the APC and Okpebholo dismissed the petition as baseless, arguing that the PDP and Ighodalo failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their claims.
