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Appeal Court Upholds Okpebholo’s Victory In Edo Governorship Election, Dismisses PDP’s Appeal
A three-member panel of justices unanimously ruled in favour of Okpebholo, upholding the earlier judgement of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal
Abuja, Nigeria– The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Thursday affirmed the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of Edo State, dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
A three-member panel of justices unanimously ruled in favour of Okpebholo, upholding the earlier judgement of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which had in April validated his victory in the 21 September 2024 governorship election.
The appellate court held that Ighodalo and the PDP failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their claims of widespread irregularities, overvoting, electoral malpractices, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act. Consequently, the panel dismissed the appeal for lacking merit.
INEC had declared Okpebholo the winner of the election, having polled 291,667 votes, while his closest rival, Ighodalo, garnered 247,655 votes. Other candidates in the race received minimal support.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Ighodalo had approached the election tribunal, which sat in Abuja, seeking to overturn Okpebholo’s victory.
However, the tribunal dismissed his petition, prompting him to escalate the matter to the Court of Appeal.
Despite the setbacks, PDP leaders remain defiant.
The party’s Edo State chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, described the earlier tribunal ruling as “a miscarriage of justice” that allegedly “ignored the facts and rewarded impunity.”
