The Supreme Court has put off giving its final decision on the case filed by Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, against Monday Okpebholo’s election as governor of Edo State. A five-member panel of judges, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, said after hearing both sides on Wednesday, July 2, that a date for the final ruling would be announced later.
Ighodalo, through his lawyer Ken Mosia, is asking the court to cancel the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Okpebholo as the winner of the September 21, 2024, election. He claims he got the highest number of valid votes and should be announced as the real winner.
INEC’s lawyer, Kanu Agabi, disagrees and wants the case dismissed. He said Ighodalo and the PDP had been inconsistent in their claims. According to him, they cannot call the election unlawful and at the same time ask to be declared the winners. He argued that the case has no real value and should be thrown out.
INEC had declared Monday Okpebholo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election with 291,667 votes. Ighodalo came second with 247,274 votes, while the Labour Party candidate, Olumide Akpata, got 22,763 votes.
Unhappy with the outcome, Ighodalo and the PDP first took the matter to the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal. They claimed there were many irregularities and that INEC didn’t follow the proper rules of the Electoral Act 2022. They asked the tribunal to cancel Okpebholo’s victory.
However, the tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed their case on April 2. The tribunal said that the PDP and Ighodalo could not prove their claims. They did not bring strong evidence or reliable witnesses to back up their accusations.
After losing at the tribunal, Ighodalo and the PDP took the case to the Court of Appeal. On May 29, the Appeal Court also dismissed the case. Justice Mohammed Danjuma ruled that the case had no merit and agreed with the tribunal’s earlier decision.
Now, the matter is in the hands of the Supreme Court. Whatever the court decides will be final and will determine who officially holds the governorship seat in Edo State.
