Benin City, April 1, 2025 – The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, chaired by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, is set to deliver its highly anticipated judgment on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, regarding the contentious September 21, 2024, governorship election. The tribunal’s ruling will address the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, challenging the victory of Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC announced Okpebholo as the winner on September 22, 2024, with 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP), who secured 22,763 votes. However, the PDP swiftly rejected the results, filing a petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, alleging widespread electoral irregularities. The party claims that over-voting, non-serialization of ballots, errors in result collation, and computational inaccuracies marred the process, robbing Ighodalo of victory across 765 of the state’s 4,519 polling units.
The tribunal proceedings, which began with a pre-hearing on January 13, 2025, and shifted from Benin City to Abuja on January 28 due to security concerns, have been intense. The PDP presented 19 witnesses, including polling unit agents, and subpoenaed Anthony Itodo, a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT department. Itodo tendered 153 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used in 133 disputed polling units as evidence of over-voting, with an additional five machines later admitted, bringing the total to 158. The petitioners argued that these devices, alongside certified electoral documents, substantiate their claims of electoral fraud.
In contrast, INEC, the first respondent, opted not to call witnesses, relying instead on legal arguments to defend its declaration. Okpebholo, the second respondent, presented a single witness, while the APC, the third respondent, called four witnesses before closing its defense on February 13, 2025. The APC’s counsel, Ferdinand Orbih (SAN), asserted that the petitioners failed to prove their case, noting that only five polling unit agents testified out of over 4,000 units in Edo State, and no presiding officers were called to corroborate the allegations.
The legal battle reached its climax on March 3, 2025, when the tribunal reserved judgment after all parties adopted their final written addresses. PDP counsel Ken Mozia (SAN) urged the tribunal to nullify Okpebholo’s victory, arguing that the election violated the Electoral Act of 2022 and that Ighodalo secured the highest lawful votes. INEC’s Kanu Agabi (SAN) countered that the petitioners’ reliefs were inconsistent—seeking both nullification and a declaration of victory—while Okpebholo’s counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), emphasized that the BVAS machines were never analyzed in court to prove over-voting, rendering the evidence speculative. APC’s Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) further dismissed the petition, claiming the dumped documents lacked probative value without detailed witness testimony.
As Edo State awaits the tribunal’s verdict, political tension remains palpable. The PDP has expressed confidence in reclaiming what it calls a stolen mandate, with Ighodalo praising Edo residents for their resilience amid alleged post-election intimidation. Meanwhile, Okpebholo’s camp has dismissed the petition as baseless, with the governor focusing on initiatives like his “Back-to-Farm” program launched in February. The judgment, to be delivered at the National Judicial Institute in Abuja, will not only determine the rightful occupant of the Dennis Osadebay Government House but also test public faith in Nigeria’s electoral and judicial systems.
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