The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has scheduled Wednesday, April 2, 2025, to deliver its judgment on the September 2024 election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship election.
Okpebholo defeated Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP).
Dissatisfied, the PDP and its candidate, filed a petition challenging Okpebholo’s victory in the September 21, 2024, election. They accused INEC of electoral irregularities, including over-voting, lack of ballot serialization, errors in collation, and miscalculations in results.
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, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had, in 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.
