A’Court upholds Okpebholo’s election victory as Edo governor

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Thursday upheld the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the Governor of Edo State and dismissed the case of Asue Ighodalo, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September 21, 2024 governorship election in the South-South state.

Delivering judgment, a three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Mohammed Danjuma, unanimously held that the appeal by Ighodalo was unmeritorious and dismissed it.

The court held that the appellants failed to show that the election tribunal erred in its decision and proceeded to affirm the judgment of the tribunal delivered.

However, Ighodalo has rejected the judgment and said the verdict of the appellate court would be contested at the Supreme Court.

It would be recalled that at the poll last September, Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (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. Fourteen other candidates contested the seat but got less than the three frontline candidates.

The APC candidate cleared over 10 of the 18 local government areas, leaving the PDP candidate with marginal victory in the other local councils. The APC gained control in two of the three battleground senatorial districts in the state.