BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
The supreme court has affirmed on Thursday, the election of Monday Okpebholo as governor of Edo state in the 2024 governorship election. five-member panel of the apex court, led by Mohammed Garba, dismissed as lacking in merit an appeal by Asue Ighodalo, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to annul the outcome of the governorship election that held in Edo state on September 21, 2024.
Garba said the appellants failed to prove that Oklebholo did not secure the votes lawfully during the election and did not properly demonstrate that the decision of the tribunal and the court of appeal was perverse.
“The appeal is hereby dismissed for lacking in merit and the judgement affirms the decision of the tribunal and court of appeal,” he said.
Ighodalo’s counsel, Ken Mosia, prayed the apex court to void Okpebholo’s election and declare him as the winner of the poll on the grounds that he scored the majority of lawful votes cast.
However, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Kanu Agabi, asked the court to dismiss the appeal in its entirety.
INEC had declared Okpebholo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as winner of the September election.
Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Ighodalo of the PDP, who got 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), finished a distant third with 22,763 votes.
Ighodalo and PDP had approached the tribunal to challenge the outcome.
The petitioners told the court that the governorship election was invalid because of alleged non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
They prayed the court to nullify the declaration of Okpebholo as winner, alleging that the election was marred by irregularities.
Meanwhile, the former governor Godwin Obaseki has expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court’s judgment affirming Senator Monday Okpebholo as the duly elected governor of Edo State.
In a statement on X shortly after the verdict on Thursday, Obaseki thanked the people of Edo State and Nigerians for their support, while maintaining that the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, and his running mate, Osarodion Ogie, won the governorship election held on September 21, 2024.
“I am profoundly grateful to the good people of Edo State and Nigerians for their overwhelming support for the victory, which we believe our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo and his running mate, Osarodion Ogie, won,” Obaseki stated.
