The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal adjourned the hearing on the petitions filed by Asue Ighodalo and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to Friday, January 17, 2025. This decision was made to allow the parties involved to hold a pre-hearing meeting with the court registry regarding the presentation of documents by the petitioners. The tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, scheduled this pre-hearing meeting for Thursday, January 16, 2025.
The adjournment followed a motion from Adetunji Oyeyipo, SAN, the lead counsel for the petitioners, who indicated that his clients were prepared to present carefully organized documents related to the election. Oyeyipo, represented by Ken Mozia, assured the court that the documents were arranged to facilitate a smooth process for all parties involved. However, the counsel for Governor Monday Okpebholo, representing the APC and INEC, including Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, and Kanu Agabi, SAN, opposed the motion. They argued that the documents should have been filed with the court prior to being admitted as exhibits.
As the tribunal began hearing the petitions, a 70-year-old witness, Victoria Ogbebor, testified on behalf of Dr. Bright Enabulele, the candidate from the Accord Party (AP). Ogbebor stated that she served as a unit agent in Unit 32 for her party in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area during the election. When questioned by the respondents’ counsel, she acknowledged that she might recognize the name Enabulele. The petitioner’s counsel, J.A. Dagher, also called two additional witnesses: Mr. Zakaria Wisdom Yahaya and Daisy Nwanchukwu.
Yahaya, in his witness statement, urged the court to consider it in support of the petitioner’s case. He described the election process in his Polling Unit 28, Ward 8, in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, where he acted as a polling unit agent for the AP, as fraught with irregularities, including ballot stuffing. During cross-examination by the respondents’ counsel, he confirmed that he also served as a ward agent for his party. The third witness, Daisy Nwanchukwu, testified that she functioned as a polling unit agent in Oredo Unit 9, Ward 3. When asked if she received an agent card from INEC for her role in the election, she answered negatively. The tribunal adjourned the continuation of the hearing to Thursday, January 16, 2025.
After the adjournment, Ighodalo, the PDP candidate, expressed confidence in the judiciary’s ability to help him reclaim his mandate. He praised the citizens of Edo State for their overwhelming support during the governorship election held on September 21, 2024. “I want to commend the people of Edo State for coming out en masse to vote for us and for maintaining their faith in us,” he stated. He acknowledged the calmness of the people in the face of intimidation and harassment over the past three months and expressed optimism about the tribunal’s proceedings.
Media Talk Africa reports that seven petitions challenging the declaration of Governor Monday Okpebholo as the winner of the 2024 Edo State Governorship Election have been filed with the tribunal. The petitioners include Asue Ighodalo, the PDP, Accord Party (AP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Senator Monday Okpebholo, the APC candidate, the winner of the election on September 22, 2024, with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, Dr. Asue Ighodalo of the PDP, who received 247,274 votes.
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