The Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State, bringing an end to a series of legal challenges mounted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
Delivering a unanimous verdict, a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Mohammed Garba dismissed the appeal filed by Ighodalo, ruling that it lacked merit.
The apex court held that there was no justification to overturn the concurrent decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, both of which upheld Okpebholo’s victory at the September 21, 2024, governorship poll.
“The Appellant did not satisfactorily discharge the burden of proof placed on him by the law,” the Supreme Court held in the lead judgment delivered by Justice Garba.
According to the court, the PDP and its candidate failed to provide credible and admissible evidence to support allegations of widespread irregularities, including over-voting and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The panel further noted that many of the documents, particularly Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, were tendered without being properly demonstrated through relevant witnesses.
It added that much of the evidence was “dumped” on the tribunal from the Bar without establishing the alleged non-compliance across 432 of the 4,519 polling units in the state.
Ighodalo had approached the apex court with appeal number SC/CV/536/2025, seeking to overturn the May 29 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his case. He argued that the appellate court erred in its evaluation of the evidence and failed to recognize that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the law.
During final arguments adopted on July 2, Ighodalo urged the Supreme Court to invalidate the results and declare him the rightful winner, insisting he secured the majority of lawful votes. In contrast, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Okpebholo, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) urged the court to uphold the election outcome.
The appellate court, in a judgment delivered by a three-member panel led by Justice M. A. Danjuma, had upheld the earlier ruling of the election tribunal, which dismissed multiple petitions against Okpebholo’s election.
On May 15, the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, chaired by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had dismissed the cases filed by the PDP and Ighodalo; the Action Alliance (AA) and its National Chairman, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje; and the Accord Party (AP) and its candidate, Dr. Bright Enabulele.
INEC had declared Okpebholo of the APC winner of the election with 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo of the PDP who polled 247,655 votes.
Challenging the outcome at the tribunal, the PDP and its candidate contended that the election violated key provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and claimed Okpebholo did not win the highest number of valid votes.
In petition EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, the PDP also alleged that sensitive electoral materials were not properly serialized or pre-recorded, thereby facilitating alleged rigging in favour of the APC.
The petitioners presented 19 witnesses and tendered various exhibits, including 153 BVAS machines used in 133 polling units. They claimed results were altered during collation, resulting in over-voting in favour of Okpebholo.
However, the tribunal found that the petitioners failed to provide credible evidence to support their claims. It ruled that the legal burden of proving that Okpebholo was unlawfully returned by INEC rested solely on the petitioners—a burden they failed to meet.
It criticized the petitioners for relying heavily on documents without producing competent witnesses such as polling unit agents, presiding officers, or voters to substantiate their claims.
Furthermore, the tribunal dismissed the argument that INEC’s failure to pre-record election materials under Section 73(2) of the Electoral Act constituted grounds to nullify the election.
It also noted that none of the tendered BVAS machines were powered on during proceedings to show discrepancies between votes cast and voter accreditation.
With Thursday’s ruling by the Supreme Court, Governor Okpebholo’s election victory has now been conclusively upheld at all levels of the judiciary.
