The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the election of Monday Okpebholo as Governor of Edo State, dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, as lacking merit.

Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Mohammed Danjuma, speaking on behalf of the three-member panel, held that the appellants failed to prove any miscarriage of justice or legal error in the earlier verdict of the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

“The appeal is devoid of merit,” Danjuma ruled, stating that the PDP and Ighodalo failed to present sufficient grounds to invalidate the tribunal’s confirmation of Okpebholo’s victory.

While the appellate court faulted the tribunal’s admission of 133 BVAS machines tendered by the petitioners declaring that due process was not followed in admitting the devices it ordered the evidence expunged from the court record. Nonetheless, the court concluded that the exclusion had no impact on the overall outcome.

The court also agreed with the tribunal that the PDP and its candidate failed to establish substantial non-compliance or prove allegations of over-voting as required by the Electoral Act 2022. It noted that much of the evidence presented was “dumped” without proper demonstration or linkage to specific polling units.

Furthermore, the court observed that most of the witnesses brought by the petitioners did not address the key issues raised in the petition, rendering their testimonies largely irrelevant.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 2024 Edo governorship election with 291,667 votes. He defeated PDP’s Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes, while Labour Party candidate Olumide Akpata came third with 22,763 votes.

Dissatisfied with the result, the PDP and Ighodalo approached the tribunal seeking nullification of the election over alleged irregularities and non-compliance with electoral laws. With the Appeal Court’s judgment, Okpebholo’s victory now stands legally affirmed.