The Court of Appeal in Abuja has announced it will soon deliver a judgment on the ongoing dispute over the Edo State governorship election held on September 21, 2024.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election, but the result has been challenged by several parties.
Appeals were filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate Asue Ighodalo, as well as by the Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and a cross-appeal by the APC and Okpebholo.
A three-judge panel, led by Justice M. A. Danjuma, heard the final arguments from lawyers representing all sides on Thursday, May 15, 2025.
After the hearing, the court decided to reserve its judgment and will announce the date for delivering the ruling later.
The PDP and its candidate asked the court to overturn the tribunal’s earlier decision, which had upheld Okpebholo’s victory.
They argued that there were irregularities and non-compliance with electoral laws, particularly pointing to missing serial numbers on election forms and conflicting results between polling units and higher collation levels.
They claimed these issues affected the accuracy of the election outcome.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Okpebholo and the APC argued that the tribunal correctly ruled in their favour.
They said the challengers failed to prove their claims with sufficient evidence and that even when disputed votes were removed, Okpebholo still won the election.
They also explained that some of the forms cited by the appellants did not require serial numbers and criticized the absence of crucial documents from the challengers during the tribunal process.
The APC’s legal team also pointed out that the law requires petitioners to present witnesses from each affected polling unit, which the challengers did not adequately do.
They urged the court to dismiss the appeals and confirm the tribunal’s judgment.
With the judgment now reserved, all parties and the public await the court’s final decision, which will settle the contest over who is the rightful governor of Edo State.
