The Supreme Court, on Thursday, affirmed the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the authentic governor of Edo State.
The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, dismissed the appeal filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Asuerinme Ighodalo, as lacking in merit.
Ighodalo had filed the appeal to nullify the outcome of the governorship election held in the state on September 21, 2024.
However, the Supreme Court in its ruling said it found no reason to set aside the concurrent judgments of both the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which both affirmed Okpebholo as the valid winner of the September gubernatorial contest.
According to the apex court, the Appellant, who claimed that the election was marred by irregularities that included over-voting and substantial non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, failed to adduce credible and admissible evidence to substantiate his claim.
Also, the court held that the Appellant failed to call relevant witnesses to demonstrate some of the evidence he tendered in support of his case, especially the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines.
Justice Garba, delivering the lead judgement, said the court held that some of the proof of evidence, which were tendered from the Bar, were merely dumped on the tribunal without establishing alleged non-compliance in 432 out of a total of 4,519 polling units in the state.
“The Appellant did not satisfactorily discharge the burden of proof placed on him by the law,” Justice Garba said.
Details later…
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