The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has concluded hearings on appeals challenging Governor Monday Okpebholo’s election victory in Edo State, reserving its judgment for a date yet to be announced.
The appeals were brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who is contesting the ruling of the Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal, which upheld Okpebholo’s win in the September 21, 2024, election.
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The All Progressives Congress (APC), Okpebholo’s party, also filed a cross-appeal, contesting aspects of the tribunal’s April 2, 2025, decision.
During yesterday’s proceedings, a three-man panel of justices heard arguments from all parties involved, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which had declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes against Ighodalo’s 247,655.
Ighodalo and the PDP, dissatisfied with the outcome, challenged the result on grounds of alleged electoral malpractices, including over-voting, ballot paper issues, and data inconsistencies across hundreds of polling units.
They claimed that INEC’s failure to serialise sensitive materials compromised the election’s credibility and favoured the APC.
Their petition, however, was dismissed by the tribunal for lack of evidence. Still dissatisfied, they proceeded to the appellate court.
At the appeal hearing, Ighodalo’s lead counsel, Robert Emukpoeruo, urged the court to overturn the tribunal’s ruling.
He argued that the tribunal overlooked key irregularities, including the alleged non-serialisation of Form EC25B, in violation of the Electoral Act 2022.
He also denied that the petitioners dumped documents on the court without explanation, saying the evidence presented addressed inconsistencies between results at different collation levels.
On the other hand, Okpebholo’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, defended the tribunal’s decision, insisting that the appellants failed to prove their claims.
He pointed out that Form EC40A—not EC25B, contained the necessary serial numbers, and the more critical Form EC25D was never presented by the petitioners.
Also speaking for the APC, Emmanuel Ukala dismissed the appeal, citing a failure by the petitioners to call witnesses from the majority of the 765 polling units being challenged.
He said that under the Electoral Act, evidence must be led from each polling unit in dispute — a standard the PDP and Ighodalo failed to meet, having called only 19 witnesses, of whom just five were polling agents.
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INEC’s counsel, Kanu Agabi, backed the arguments of the APC and Okpebholo, urging the court to uphold the tribunal’s verdict.
Following the conclusion of arguments, the panel led by Justice M. A. Danjuma announced that judgment had been reserved and that the date would be communicated to all parties in due course.
