The Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, dismissed the petition filed by the Accord Party against the declaration of Gov. Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
Delivering judgment, the Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led three-member tribunal held that the Accord Party and its governorship candidate, Mr. Bright Enabulele, made weighty allegations but failed to defend them.
The tribunal said that the petitioners failed to name a single perpetrator to substantiate their allegations of thuggery, stuffing of ballots and harassing and molesting voters.
According to the tribunal, the two petitioners were so inconsistent in their claims with allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2002 and calling for nullification of the election on one hand while seeking to be declared winners on the other hand.
“On the other hand, they are seeking to be declared winners of the election they claimed to have been conducted without compliance with the Electoral Act.”
The tribunal held that there was no meaningful evidence for it to act upon to nullify the election of Okpebholo and APC and subsequently dismissed the petition in its entirety.
The tribunal thereafter affirmed the election of Okpebholo as being valid and conducted in compliance with the law.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tribunal had earlier dismissed the petition filed by Action Alliance (AA)also challenging the declaration of Okpebholo and the APC as winners of the Edo governorship election.
The petition of AA was dismissed for being frivolous and lacking in merit.
The tribunal is currently delivering judgment in the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party and its governorship candidate Mr. Asue Ighodalo, also challenging the declaration of the APC and Okpebholo in the Edo governorship election of September 21, 2024.
