Tribunal adjourns IGHODALO, PDP petitions over row on presentation of documents

Thursday, January 16, 2025 - The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday adjourned hearing on Asue Ighodalo and the Peoples Democratic Party’s petitions to Friday, January 17, 2025, to enable parties in the suit to have a pre-hearing meeting with the court registry on the way to go about presentation of documents by the petitioners.

The Justice Wilfred Kpochi- led three-man adjourned hearing of the petition on Friday, January 17, 2025.

Justice Kpochi slated Thursday, January 16, 2025 for the parties in the petition to have a pre-hearing meeting with the court registry.

The adjournment of the petitions followed the motion by Adetunji Oyeyipo, SAN, petitioners’ lead counsel, that his clients were ready to tender carefully arranged documents used in the conduct of the election.

Oyeyipo represented by Ken Mozia told the court that the documents set to tender from the bar were arranged in a way to make the entire process seamless for parties before the court.

However, counsel to Governor Monday Okpebholo, APC and INEC, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, Emmanuel Ukala SAN, and Kanu Agabi, SAN, respectively, opposed the motion of the petitioners’ counsel.

The trio averred that the documents should have be filed before the court before same can be admitted as exhibits.

Meanwhile, as the tribunal fully commenced hearing of petitions before it, a 70 years old Victoria Ogbebor testified for Dr Bright Enabulele the candidate of Accord Party, AP.

The 70-year-old witness told the tribunal that she acted as a unit agent in Unit 32 for her party in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area during the election.

When asked by the respondent’s counsel if she knew Enabulele, she said that she may know the name.

The counsel to the petitioner, J.A. Dagher, also called two other witnesses.

The two other witnesses are Mr.Zakaria Wisdom Yahaya and Daisy Nwanchukwu.

Yahaya in his witness statement prayed the court to rely on it in support of the petitioner’s case.

He told the court that the conduct of the election in his Polling Unit 28, Ward 8, in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area where he functioned as a polling unit agent for the party, AP were married with irregularities such as ballots stuffing.

When cross examined by Onyeachi Ikpeazu, SAN, Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, and Abdullahi Aliyu, SAN, counsel to the 1st to 3rd respondents, the witness also told the court that he functioned as ward agent for his party.

The third witness for the petitioners Daisy Nwanchukwu told the tribunal that she functioned as a polling Unit agent in Oredo Unit 9, Ward 3.

Nwanchukwu, when asked by the respondents if she was given an agent card by INEC to function in the election, answered in the negative.

The tribunal adjourned continuation of hearing to Thursday, January 16, 2025.

However, speaking with journalists shortly after the adjournment, Ighodalo, candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, expressed confidence in the judiciary of reclaiming his mandate.

Ighodalo also commended the people of the state for their overwhelming votes during the governorship election.

“I want to use this opportunity to commend the people of Edo State for coming out en masse to vote for us on September 21, 2024 and for keeping faith with us.

“They have been very calm in the face of intimidation, harassment in the last three months in the state.

“We strongly believe that the judiciary will do the right thing and we are looking forward to the outcome of the Tribunal proceedings”, he stated.

Seven petitions challenging the declaration of Governor Monday Okpebholo as winner of the 2024 Edo State Governorship Election were filed before the tribunal.

The petitioners are Asue Ighodalo, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Accord Party, AP, Allied Peoples Movement, APM, Action Democratic Party, ADP, Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, and the Social Democratic Party, SDP.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had on September 22, 2024, declared Senator Monday Okpebholo Okpebholo, the APC candidate winner of the election with 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival Dr Asue Ighodalo of PDP, who polled 247,274 votes.