The appellate court made the declaration in a judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Danjuma while addressing an appeal brought before the court by the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo.

The three-member panel of the appellate court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed Ighodalo’s appeal, describing it as devoid of merit.

Justice Danjuma affirmed that the PDP and Ighodalo failed to establish a miscarriage of justice in the judgment of the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal, which had earlier dismissed the petition of the two appellants.

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This follows the closure of the petitioners’ case on Monday.

The petitioners, the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate in the 2024 Edo State polls, Asue Ighodalo, are challenging INEC’s declaration of Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the September 21, 2024 governorship election.

The petitioners are seeking the nullification of the election result, alleging that INEC declared the wrong winner.

According to INEC’s official results, Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who garnered 247,655 votes.

Read Also: Edo tribunal: PDP witnesses hint irregularities in gubernatorial poll

The petitioners contend that the election was marred by non-compliance with the Electoral Act, highlighting issues such as alleged overvoting and the collation of incorrect figures at the centres.

Some of the petitioners’ witnesses testified that this was the reason they refused to sign the result sheets at their respective wards and polling units.

At the resumed sitting, INEC’s lead counsel, Abdullahi Aliyu (SAN), informed the tribunal that the commission had lined up five witnesses to testify in its defence.

INEC also requested an adjournment until Thursday to allow its witnesses, many of whom are travelling from Benin, Edo State, to testify before the tribunal.

Meanwhile, INEC tendered the results of the Edo governorship election it conducted, submitting certified true copies of the Form EC8D result to the tribunal.

The commission also presented a certified document containing the declaration of the result, as well as a copy of its 2022 Regulations & Guidelines for the conduct of elections.

Both the petitioners and the second and third defendants, Okpebholo and the APC, did not object to the documents being admitted.

The tribunal panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, duly admitted the documents as Exhibits R-1, R-2, and R-3.

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Recall that Rédíò Afínju earlier reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, announced Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the election held across the 18 local government areas of the state.

Read Also: Okpebholo Sworn-In As Edo State Governor

Not satisfied with the declaration, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate in the election, Asue Ighodalo, challenged the INEC’s declaration of Okpebholo as the winner.

The PDP counsel, Abiodun Owonikoko, one of the witnesses, Kennedy Osifo, tendered agents’ copies of the election results for 76 polling units in Ward II of the Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state, where he alleged four electoral irregularities.

He alleged that the irregularities were observed when the agents’ copies were examined alongside the certified true copies of the results of the BVAS accreditation report obtained from the INEC’s IREV portal.

He further hinted that the inconsistency had been stated in his witness statement on oath and urged the tribunal to adopt in evidence in the case.

PDP local government collation officer in the poll, Osifo, accused INEC of relying on incorrect scores to announce the final result of the election.

When cross-examined, Osifo said his testimonies were based strictly on the two documents and not on contacts with the agents.

Another witness, Adebayo Ogedegbe, alleged irregularities in 45 units across Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of the state.

In 41 of these units, Ogedegbe, who claimed to be the party collation officer for the local government, testified that INEC computed incorrect scores that negated the records in the certified true copies.

The witness alleged overvoting in four units, seeking to tender the agents’ copies of the results of the units in evidence to corroborate his claims.

For Owan West Local Government Area, Lucky Aroye tendered agents’ copies of results in nine units where he also alleged overvoting.

Aroye said there were no prior recordings of sensitive materials in seven units of the local government area, urging the INEC to adopt his statement on oath as evidence in the case.

When asked if the witness visited all the units in the local government as the collation officer, he said there was no way he could have done that, considering their number.

APC and INEC counsels Kalu Agabi, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, and Emmanuel Ukala objected to the allegations of the tendered documents but reserved their grounds to the final written addresses.

The tribunal chairman, Justice Wilfred Kpochi, said the documents were provisionally admitted in evidence and adjourned the sitting until today for the continuation of the hearing

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