In a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, challenging the outcome of the Edo State governorship election held on September 21, 2024.
The apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit and upheld the concurrent decisions of both the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had affirmed the victory of Dennis Idahosa Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The justices held that Ighodalo failed to present credible and admissible evidence to prove his claims of widespread irregularities, including over-voting and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The court also noted that the appellant did not call essential witnesses to validate the evidence he submitted, particularly concerning the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines. It further stated that some of the documents presented were merely submitted without properly linking them to specific polling units, especially the 432 units alleged to have experienced irregularities out of the state’s total 4,519 polling units.
Ighodalo had urged the apex court to overturn the Court of Appeal’s May 29 ruling, which dismissed his petition and affirmed Okpebholo’s election. He argued that the appellate court failed to thoroughly evaluate his case, which he claimed showed that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the law.
