The Supreme Court of Nigeria has affirmed the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected Governor of Edo State, bringing an end to months of legal tussle following the 2024 gubernatorial election.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Thursday, July 11, a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Mohammed Garba dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo, for lacking merit.
The apex court upheld the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal, both of which had earlier ruled in favour of Governor Okpebholo. The justices found no compelling reason to overturn the verdicts of the lower courts.
Justice Garba, delivering the lead judgment, stated that the PDP and Ighodalo failed to present credible, convincing, and admissible evidence to support their claims of over-voting and widespread non-compliance with the Electoral Act. The court noted that many of the documents submitted by the appellants were not linked to specific polling units and were merely “dumped” before the tribunal without adequate explanation — particularly in relation to 432 out of the 4,519 polling units in the state.
The court also faulted the appellants for failing to call relevant witnesses who could have validated their claims, especially regarding the deployment and use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.
In their initial petition, the PDP and Ighodalo had accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating results in 765 polling units and failing to pre-record certain sensitive materials. They presented 19 witnesses and submitted 153 BVAS machines covering 133 polling units. However, both the tribunal and the appellate court held that the petitioners could not substantiate their allegations.
INEC had declared Okpebholo winner of the September 2024 Edo State governorship election with 291,667 votes, ahead of Ighodalo who polled 247,655 votes.
With this ruling, Governor Okpebholo’s victory is now officially settled, reaffirming his mandate to lead Edo State.
