Breaking: Supreme Court Delivers Judgment on PDP’s Suit Seeking Sack of Edo Governor
- The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Monday Okpebholo’s victory as Edo state governor
- The court ruled in favour of the governor on Thursday, July 10, affirming the earlier decision Appeal Court
- Legit.ng reports that the apex court dismissed the appeal by the PDP and its governorship candidate in the disputed poll, Asue Ighodalo
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering elections, politics, and governance in Nigeria.
Benin City, Edo state - The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo state.
Vanguard noted the development in a report on Thursday morning, July 10.
Source: Facebook
Supreme Court affirms Okpehbolo’s election
The Punch also reported on the Supreme Court's verdict.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court dismissed as lacking in merit, an appeal the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Asue Ighodalo, filed to nullify the outcome of the governorship election held in the state on September 21, 2024.
According to the Supreme Court, it found no reason to set aside the concurrent judgments of both the Court of Appeal and the Edo state governorship election petition tribunal, which returned Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the valid winner of the gubernatorial contest.
It held that the appellant failed to adduce credible and admissible evidence to substantiate his claim that the election was marred by irregularities that included over-voting and substantial non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act.
Likewise, it held that the Appellant failed to call relevant witnesses to demonstrate some of the evidence he tendered in support of his case, especially the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.
It held that some of the proof of evidence, which were tendered from the Bar, were merely dumped on the tribunal without establishing alleged non-compliance in 432 out of a total of 4,519 polling units in the state.
The Supreme Court held in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Garba:
“The Appellant did not satisfactorily discharge the burden of proof placed on him by the law."
Source: Twitter
Ighodalo's legal battle with Okpebholo
Ighodalo had in the appeal marked: SC/CV/536/2025, prayed the court to invalidate the May 29 verdict of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his case and affirmed Okpebholo’s victory.
At the poll last September, Okpebholo of APC secured 291,667 votes to defeat PDP’s Ighodalo, who got 247,274 votes, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP), who came a distant third in the race with 22,763 votes. 14 other candidates contested the seat but got fewer votes than the three frontline candidates.
The APC candidate cleared over 10 of the 18 local government areas, leaving the PDP candidate with a marginal victory in the other local councils. The APC gained control in two of the three battleground senatorial districts in the state.
Okpebholo was immediately declared returned elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and sworn in as governor on November 12, 2024, when he took over the coveted seat at the Dennis Osadebe House from PDP’s Godwin Obaseki.
Read more Edo news:
- 2025 hajj: Tragedy as 75-year-old Edo pilgrim dies in Saudi Arabia
- Edo governor increases minimum wage
Edo deputy speaker resigns
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Maria Oligbi-Edeko, representing Esan North-East II, resigned from her position as the deputy speaker of the Edo house of assembly.
Edeko resigned in Edo following the minority status of the PDP in the assembly.
The PDP has lost its position due to the defection of its members, including the Speaker, to the ruling APC.
Source: Legit.ng
