Witnesses representing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday presented testimonies at the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal, alleging significant electoral irregularities in the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
The PDP and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, have challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election, which was contested across all 18 local government areas of the state.
The PDP contends that the election process in several areas was marred by discrepancies and irregularities that ultimately led to an inaccurate declaration of the results. During the tribunal hearing, several witnesses provided testimonies on alleged electoral malpractices in three local government areas: Ikpoba Okha, Akoko-Edo, and Owan West.
Kennedy Osifo, a witness and the PDP’s local government collation officer for the election, testified regarding irregularities in 76 polling units in Ward II of Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area. Osifo claimed that a comparison of the agents’ copies of the election results with the certified true copies of the results from the BVAS accreditation report obtained from INEC’s IREV portal revealed four key discrepancies. He argued that these inconsistencies were not addressed by INEC, and that the electoral commission relied on incorrect scores when announcing the final result for the area. Osifo’s testimonies were primarily based on the two sets of documents, and when cross-examined, he clarified that his statements did not derive from personal contact with the agents.
Another witness, Adebayo Ogedegbe, the PDP collation officer for Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, presented evidence of irregularities in 45 units across the area. Ogedegbe claimed that in 41 of these units, INEC had computed incorrect scores that contradicted the official records. He also alleged that there was overvoting in four polling units and sought to tender agents’ copies of the results from those units as evidence to support his claims.
In Owan West Local Government Area, Lucky Aroye, another witness for the PDP, tendered agents’ copies of results from nine polling units. Aroye’s testimony focused on allegations of overvoting in these units and a failure to record sensitive materials in seven of the units. He further urged the tribunal to adopt his statement on oath as part of the evidence in the case.
However, legal counsel representing INEC, Okpebholo, and the APC—Kalu Agabi, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, and Emmanuel Ukala—objected to the admissibility of the documents presented by the witnesses. They reserved their objections for the final written submissions in the case.
The tribunal chairman, Justice Wilfred Kpochi, ruled that the documents would be provisionally admitted as evidence for the time being. The hearing was adjourned to Wednesday for the continuation of the proceedings, with the tribunal expected to evaluate the documents and testimonies more thoroughly as the case progresses.
