The court of appeal in Abuja has upheld the judgment of the Edo state governorship petitions tribunal, which affirmed the election of Monday Okpebholo as the state governor.
Giving judgment on Thursday, a three-member panel of the appeal court threw out the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
Mohammed Danjuma, who gave judgment held that the appeal lacked merit.
Danjuma said PDP and Ighodalo were unable to establish their claim that the tribunal erred in its judgment by affirming Okpebholo’s election.
However, the appeal court held that the tribunal erred in admitting the BVAS machines presented by the petitioners as evidence.
Consequently, the court expunged the evidence of the 133 BVAS machines tendered at the tribunal by the petitioners.
The court stated that the tribunal did not comply with relevant statutes for tendering such documentary evidence when it admitted the BVAS machines.
The court also held that the tribunal was correct to find that the PDP and its candidate “dumped” evidence on it without clearly demonstrating non-compliance and over-voting in line with the Electoral Act.
The appeal court maintained that the petitioners failed to call witnesses to speak to the exhibits they tendered and that the few witnesses presented by them testified on issues “unrelated” to the matters before the tribunal.
