The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Monday Okpebholo as the elected governor of Edo State in the 2024 governorship poll.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, a five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, describing it as lacking in merit.
Justice Garba held that the appellants failed to establish that Okpebholo did not win the election with lawful votes, and also fell short of proving that the verdicts of both the election tribunal and the Court of Appeal were flawed or perverse.
The judge ruled that the appeal is “hereby dismissed for lacking merit”.
With the ruling, the apex court affirmed the decisions of the election petition tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja had also upheld the election of Senator Okpebholo, ruling that the poll was validly conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The appellate court held that Governor Okpebholo was duly returned and declared the winner of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
Justice Mohammed Danjuma, who delivered the judgment in the appeal filed by the PDP and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, stated that the appeal lacked merit and subsequently dismissed it in its entirety.
Justice Danjuma affirmed that both the PDP and Ighodalo failed to establish any miscarriage of justice in the earlier judgment of the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal, which had also dismissed their petition.
