Edo Tribunal: Okpebholo Closes Election Victory Defence After Calling One Witness

•Idahosa faults PDP’s over-voting claims

Alex Enumah in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, yesterday, closed his defence of his victory at the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, after calling just one witness.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Mr Asue Ighodalo, had since challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission’s declaration of Okpebholo as governor.

According to INEC, Okpebholo secured a total of 291, 667 votes to emerged winner, while Ighodalo came second with a total of 247, 655 votes.

But, the petitioners disagreed with INEC alleging over-voting and wrong computation of results at the collation centers.

In prove of their allegations, the petitioners tendered several documents and called in 19 witnesses, beside the 153 Bimodal Verification Accreditation System (BVAS) machines tendered by INEC on the orders of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.

Also, the tribunal had last week adjourned to February 10, for the governor to come up and defend allegations against his victory, after the electoral umpire opened and closed its defence last week without calling a single witness.

However, when it was the turn of the governor yesterday, his lawyer, Chief Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, after the end of cross-examination of their first witness announced that the governor, who was the 2nd respondent in the case would be closing his defence.

The witness, Usman Majek, who claimed to be a Polling Unit (PU) agent of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was led by Ikpeazu to adopt his written statement as his testimony before the tribunal.

However, under cross-examination by Adetunji Oyeyipo, SAN, representing the petitioners, the witness agreed that there was over-voting in his polling unit.

He also affirmed that in his unit, accreditation and voting took place simultaneously.

Majek told the tribunal that he complained to the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) about the result he entered on the result sheet after he signed it.

When Oyeyipo confronted the witness with exhibit PBA40; a copy of his PU results, the witness acknowledged it and admitted signing it.

At the end of cross-examination, Ikpeazu informed the court that the 2nd respondent would like to close his defence.

The petitioners, however, did not object to the request, which was accordingly granted by the chairman of the three-member panel, Justice Wilfred Kpochi.

However, before adjourning the matter, the tribunal had ordered the 3rd respondent, APC, to open its defence on February 12.

Meanwhile, the Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Dennis Idahosa, has dismissed PDP’s petition over alleged over-voting in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State.

Speaking after the tribunal session, in Benin City, Idahosa, who is from Ovia South West LGA, criticised the PDP for filing petitions without verifying facts.

He stated that results from areas affected by over-voting were already cancelled, making the opposition’s claims baseless.

“In Unit 4, Ward 7, Usen, the results were cancelled due to over-voting, as required by law. Yet, PDP petitioned against these results without knowing they were never included in the final tally,” he explained.

The Edo Deputy governor, pointed out that the APC witness confirmed in court that cancelled results were not computed, so, “Why would PDP challenge results that do not exist? It shows they do not understand the process,” Idahosa said.

According to him, the Electoral Act 2020 (as amended) clearly stated that over-voting leads to automatic result cancellation, eliminating the need for further disputes.

“The onus is on PDP to prove their case, but their witnesses have contradicted themselves in court. Our legal team may not even need to call any witness,” he added.

Idahosa accused PDP of treating the tribunal like a media campaign, rather than focusing on legal facts.

He maintained that the party’s case lacked merit and expressed confidence in the judiciary to uphold the election of Okpebholo as duly elected in the September 21, 2024 governorship election.