… Ighodalo faces insurmountable odds against affirmation of Okpebholo
By Sebastine Ebhuomhan
Thursday, 29th May, 2025. Abuja. The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja will today decide all the appeals filed on the governorship election of Edo State.
The election that held on Saturday, 21st September, 2024, was won by Senator Monday Okpebholo, whom the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returned as duly elected state governor.
To resolve all legal contentions for a sound judgment, the three-member Court of Appeal panel led by Honourable Justice Mohamed Danjuma would consider the merits of three appeals and a cross-appeal.
Governor Okpebholo, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 291, 667 votes in the election to defeat the runner-up, Asuerinme Ighodalo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with 247, 655 votes, and who had also unanimously defeated Ighodalo and two other appellants at the Election Petitions Tribunal, has a cross-appeal marked: CA/ABJ/EPT/ED/GOV/04/2025 contending against Ighodalo’s appeal marked: CA/ABJ/EPT/ED/GOV/01/2025 and the appeal of the Action Alliance (AA)’s as well as its National Chairman, Rufai Omoaje, and the appeal of the Accord Party (AP)’s Bright Enabulele.
At the hearing of the appeals on 15th May, lawyers for the appellants prayed the court to allow their appeals and reverse the unanimous judgments of the tribunal delivered on 2nd April.
Counsel for Ighodalo and the PDP, Robert Emukpoeruo, SAN, disputed the tribunal’s demand for evidence of polling agents as witnesses to prove how forms were filled or not filled by insisting that there was no record of serial number on Form EC25B as required by Section 73(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022. He further faulted the tribunal’s claim that Ighodalo simply dumped documents on it by maintaining that his clients only challenged the collation of results at the ward level.
On the other hand, Okpebholo’s lawyers urged the court to affirm the tribunal judgment and dismiss all the appeals since they have failed to prove their allegations of over-voting, irregularities etc.
Particularly, Okpebholo’s lawyer, Oyinyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, argued that contrary to the appellants’ claim that serial numbers were not filled in Form EC25B, the form actually had no provision for filling serial numbers. He explained that then forms only had spaces for imputation of information regarding the quantity received and the quantity returned.
Ikpeazu stated that Form EC40A, which the appellants pleaded and tendered showed serial numbers of the ballot papers were clearly indicated just as he underlined that while the appellants pleaded Form EC25D in their petition, they failed woefully to tender the forms before the tribunal.
He concluded that ward collation officers are not bound by the results uploaded to iRev where there is over-voting and, thereafter, urged the court to uphold Okpebholo and APC’s cross-appeal.
In his arguments for the APC, Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, insisted that the position of the law remains the same even with the introduction of Sections 73(2) and 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022 that a petitioner alleging any form of non-compliance must prove the allegations with the evidence of witnesses from affected polling units and concluded that Ighodalo failed woefully to lead sufficient evidence to prove their case.
Appearing for INEC, Kanu Agabi, SAN, also prayed the court to dismiss the appeals of the appellants and affirm the judgment of the tribunal.
Following from the solidity of arguments and counter-arguments, it is crystal clear that the ambition of Ighodalo and his appellant-friends to return Edo State to the PDP is a herculean task that seems impossible.
While it is indubitable that public angst from Obaseki’s ingratitude and dictatorship fuelled the overwhelming victory of APC in Edo State, Ighodalo confronts insurmountable odds to overturn Okpebholo’s popular election at the Court of Appeal.
Mr. Sebastine EBHUOMHAN is an award-winning journalist and a media consultant from Edo State, who freely supported Monday Okpebholo to become governor. He can be reached on: usie007@yahoo.com and 08037204620.
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