The Supreme Court has reserved its ruling on the appeal filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, challenging the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.
This decision came after the apex court heard submissions from all parties involved in the legal tussle. Ighodalo is contesting the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
A five-member panel, presided over by Justice Garba Lawal, heard the case.
Represented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ken Mozia, Ighodalo’s legal team urged the court to reverse the judgments of the lower courts, which upheld Okpebholo’s victory.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on May 29, 2025, affirmed the decision of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had previously dismissed the PDP’s petition as lacking merit.
The tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had on April 2, 2025, thrown out the petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, citing insufficient evidence to prove claims of over-voting and electoral malpractices.
The PDP and Ighodalo had alleged widespread irregularities, faulty vote collation in 765 polling units, and INEC’s failure to serialise ballot papers and pre-record sensitive materials, arguing these lapses enabled fraud in favour of the APC.
To support their case, they called 19 witnesses and subpoenaed a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT department, who produced 154 BVAS machines from 133 polling units.
However, the tribunal held that none of the witnesses could effectively link the BVAS data to the alleged over-voting, nor were the machines demonstrated in court. It ruled that documents alone could not establish the claims without corroborating testimonies from polling agents or officials.
On INEC’s alleged non-compliance with electoral guidelines, the tribunal found no substantial proof to support the accusation. It also dismissed claims about missing serial numbers and unrecorded materials, stating, “There are figures here.”
INEC declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, ahead of Ighodalo’s 247,655 votes.
During Wednesday’s hearing, INEC’s counsel, Kanu Agabi, asked the court to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the PDP’s claims were contradictory—they described the election as flawed but still sought to be declared winners.
Lawyers for Okpebholo and the APC, Onyechi Ikpeazu and Emmanuel Okala respectively, also urged the court to reject the appeal.
After hearing all arguments, Justice Lawal stated that the date for delivering the final judgment would be communicated in due course.
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