Kehinde Fajobi
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, on Monday closed their case at the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja after presenting 19 witnesses.
The petitioners are challenging the declaration of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 21 September 2024 election.
At the resumed hearing, lead counsel for the petitioners, Robert Emukpoeruo (SAN), informed the Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led tribunal that they had concluded their case.
This came shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) submitted five additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used during the election.
The devices were tendered by Anthony Itodo, a senior technical officer in INEC’s ICT department, and admitted as evidence, despite objections from the respondents, who reserved their reasons for their final written addresses.
Earlier, the tribunal had admitted 148 BVAS machines from 133 disputed polling units as part of the PDP’s evidence.
INEC had declared Okpebholo winner with 291,667 votes, ahead of Ighodalo, who polled 247,655.
However, the PDP is asking the tribunal to nullify the result, citing alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act and arguing that Okpebholo did not secure the highest number of lawful votes.
The tribunal has scheduled Wednesday for INEC to open its defence.