The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has set Wednesday, April 2, 2025, as the date to deliver its verdict on the petition challenging the outcome of the September 2024 election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the poll, defeating Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP).
However, dissatisfied with the results, the PDP and its candidate filed a petition contesting Okpebholo’s victory in the September 21, 2024, election. They alleged electoral irregularities, including over-voting, lack of ballot serialization, collation errors, and miscalculations in the final results.
During tribunal proceedings, the petitioners presented 19 witnesses and summoned a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT department, who provided 154 BVAS machines as evidence to support the over-voting claims.
In the case, marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, INEC did not call any witnesses in response to the allegations. Okpebholo presented one witness, while the APC fielded four witnesses before closing their defense.
The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had previously stated that judgment would be delivered at a later date. With the new date set, all eyes are now on the tribunal as stakeholders await its final ruling.
