The Edo state governorship election petition tribunal has reserved judgment in the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and it’s candidate, Aswe Ighodalo, challenging the outcome of September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state.
The three man panel lead by Justice Wilfred Kpochi reserved the judgment on Monday after counsel in the matter adopted their final written addresses.
When hearing commenced, counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission, Kanu Agabi, SAN proceeded to adopt the final address of his client.
Agabi while making his submission prayed the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit, on grounds that the tribunal could not annul the September 21, 2024 governorship election because it was not one of the reliefs sought by the petitioners.
Agabi who spoke on the claim of non-compliance pleaded by the petitioners, noted that it was weak as it was not accompanied by the appropriate relief which was nullification of election.
Agabi urged the court to dismiss the petition on ground that the polling unit agents called as witnesses signed the result sheet and they could not distinguish between what they heard and what they saw, noting that the documents upon which the petitioners relied on were all dumped on the tribunal and could not be used in their favour.
The counsel for Governor Monday Okpebholo, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN told the tribunal to dismiss the petition on the grounds that it had become an academic exercise.
Ikpeazu said that in the course of their research, they carefully extracted the polling units which the petitioners tendered documents on and compared them to the ones they presented and even at that, his client was well ahead of the petitioners in the polls.
He added that a pronouncement of the Supreme Court said that one could not prove over voting without the Bimodal Verification Authentication System (BVAs) Machines but that none of the machines was opened to allow the tribunal look at the content.
Speaking on behalf of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Mr Emmanuel Ukala argued that it was clear that the case of the petitioners was based virtually and entirely on non-compliance.
Ukala argued that with over 4,000 polling units in Edo, the petitioners called only five polling unit agents and no single presiding officer.
He also said that since the petitioners failed to demonstrate how the BVAs worked, it was clear that the case of the petitioners was not proved and it should be dismissed.
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Responding, counsel for the petitioners, Ken Moze, SAN, said that with 4519 polling units in Edo, the complaint in the petition was concerning 765 of them.
According to him, it is law that successful prosecution of election petition is not about the percentage of the total polling units in the state but the effect of the successive establishment of the complaint.
He further argued that the petition must be considered whollistically and not in parts.
On why the petitioners called only five polling unit agents, he said that the grouse of his client was with what happened at the collation centres and not at the polling units so they didn’t need more than five agents to testify.
He further stated that the petitioners concede that elections took place at the polling units, but how 25 votes metamorphosed to 525 votes at the collation center is what they are contending.
Moze however noted that all the documents they tendered were duly certified by INEC and were tendered without objection from the commission, the makers of the document, countering the claim that they dumped documents on the court.
The Justice Wilfred Kpochi Panel after listening to the submission of the lawyers reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to the parties by the secretary of the tribunal.
(Editor : Paul Akhagbemhe)
