Supreme Court Affirms Election of Monday Okpebholo as Edo State Governor

Strategic Insights -

The Supreme Court has issued a unanimous decision in favor of Monday Okpebholo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), affirming his election as governor of Edo State. The decision was reached after dismissing an appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo, seeking to nullify the outcome of the governorship election held on September 21, 2024. The Supreme Court held that the PDP and its candidate failed to provide credible evidence to support their claims of irregularities, including over-voting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by the PDP and its candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo, seeking to nullify the outcome of the governorship election held on September 21, 2024.
  • The court found that the PDP and its candidate failed to provide credible evidence to support their claims of irregularities, including over-voting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
  • The decision was reached by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, who held that the PDP and its candidate failed to discharge the burden of proof.
  • The Supreme Court upheld the concurrent judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which returned Monday Okpebholo of the APC as the valid winner of the gubernatorial contest.
  • The PDP and its candidate alleged that the election was marred by irregularities, including over-voting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act, but failed to provide credible evidence to support their claims.
  • The Supreme Court held that some of the proof of evidence tendered by the PDP and its candidate were dumped on the tribunal without establishing alleged non-compliance in 432 out of 4,519 polling units in the state.
  • The court noted that the PDP and its candidate failed to call relevant witnesses to demonstrate some of the evidence they tendered, particularly with regards to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.

Statistics:

  • 291,667 votes: the total number of votes secured by Monday Okpebholo of the APC in the governorship election.
  • 247,655 votes: the total number of votes secured by Asuerinme Ighodalo of the PDP in the governorship election.
  • 432: the number of polling units in which the PDP and its candidate alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
  • 4,519: the total number of polling units in Edo State.
  • 153: the number of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines tendered as exhibits by the PDP and its candidate.
  • 133: the number of polling units in which the BVAS machines were used.

Sources:

  • "Supreme Court Affirms Election of Monday Okpebholo as Edo State Governor" (uncredited article)
  • "PDP Candidate Loses Appeal at Supreme Court" (uncredited article)
  • SC/CV/536/2025 (Supreme Court judgment)
  • EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024 (Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal judgment)