Serious Controversy Erupts As Edo Governorship Tribunal ‘Judgment’ Allegedly Leaks
There is a growing discontent over judicial pronouncement in the country particularly with reference to political cases in which the Courts are now seen to become more political than politicians and political parties.
One of the latest of such judicial matters is the ongoing Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal as a document alleging to be the judgment of the Edo State Tribunal has taken the centre stage online barely a day before the scheduled Wednesday, April 2, 2025 delivering of judgement of the Governorship election in the State.
Ahead of the delivering of the judgement, there are already jubilation by the members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the State declaring that the judgement is in their favour.
The tribunal had scheduled April 2, 2025, for the delivery of its judgment regarding the petition filed by the Mr Asue Ighodalo, a Governorship candidate in the September 21, 2024 election and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the outcome of the election.
Surprisingly, the ‘judgment,’ which leaked and appeared on social media, indicated a split decision among the three-member panel of Justices led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi.
A perusal of the document showed that two of the justices, namely; Wilfred Kpochi and A.B. Yusuf, ruled to dismiss the petition, while Justice A.A. Adewole gave a minority judgment in favor of the PDP candidate, Ighodalo.
The majority ruling by Justices Kpochi and Yusuf, noted that while some irregularities occurred that included improper documentation of serial numbers in EC 25B forms and cases of over-voting, they argued that they did not significantly impact the election results.
In the words of Justice Kpochi; “The petitioners have not discharged the dual burden to the satisfaction of the law. Accordingly, the petition lacks merit and is hereby dismissed.”
However, Justice Adewole in his minority judgment buttressed his argument by insisting that Governor Monday Okpebholo’s election should be nullified due to significant violations of the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Justice Adewole noted that the PDP candidate, Ighodalo and his Party, provided enough proof that their candidate should have received 243,113 votes compared to Okpebholo’s 210,326 votes, which would have substantially changed the election’s outcome.
Justice Adewole held that the petitioners’ case was not rebutted, and they showed unit by unit how the actual total should be 243,113 votes, while the 2nd Respondent’s tally should stand at 210,326 votes—a clear reversal of the declared result”.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on September 22, 2024, declared Okpebholo of the APC as the winner of the Governorship election with 291,667 votes, while Ighodalo of the PDP secured 247,655 votes.
But, dissatisfied with the results, Ighodalo and the PDP declared that the election was flawed due to improper handling of sensitive materials, which they claim made room for rigging.
The election petition case with no: EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, questioned the legitimacy of Okpebholo’s victory as the PDP pointedly questioned and insisted that its candidate received the highest number of lawful votes.
Clearly, the leaked documents have sparked serious criticisms and debate on the possibility of the final verdict of the Tribunal aligning with the judgement already in the public domain via the social media.
