EDO TRIBUNAL ADJOURNS TO FEB 10 AS INEC FAILS TO PRODUCE WITNESSES
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The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has adjourned proceedings to Monday, February 10, for Governor Monday Okphebholo to open his case.
This decision came after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which was set to present its witnesses on Thursday, February 6, failed to do so.
INEC’s lead counsel, Kanu Agabi, SAN, informed the three-member panel, headed by Justice Wilfred Okpochi, that no witnesses would be presented, following a reconsideration after Wednesday’s proceedings.
Recall that on Wednesday, INEC requested an adjournment until Thursday to allow its witnesses, most of whom were traveling from Benin, Edo State, to be present for their testimonies.
INEC also informed the panel that it had lined up five witnesses to defend the declaration of Monday Okphebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the September 21, 2024, Edo State governorship election.
INEC had announced that Okphebholo of the APC secured 291,667 votes, defeating the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Asuerime Ighodalo, who garnered 247,655 votes.
The PDP and Ighodalo, dissatisfied with the electoral body’s declaration, took legal action by dragging INEC, Okphebholo, and the APC to the tribunal, listing them as the first to third respondents, respectively.
The petitioners argued that the election was flawed due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act, presenting allegations of overvoting and the manipulation of figures at collation centers.
On Wednesday, February 5, INEC submitted key electoral documents as evidence in response to the claims.
These included the certified true copy of the Form EC8D result, a certified document containing the declaration of the election result, and a copy of its regulations and guidelines for the conduct of elections.
Also, INEC, through a senior technical officer in its ICT Department, Anthony Itodo, had tendered Biomodal Voters Accreditation Machines in evidence to the tribunal under a subpoena by the petitioners for the proof of alleged multiple incidents of overvoting that occurred in the Edo Election.
At the resumed hearing of the petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, Agabi further informed the tribunal that they would be going with what they got during cross-examination of the petitioners’ witnesses and moved to close their case.
He said, “My Lords, after we left you yesterday, we gave more thought to the matter and came to the conclusion that the sensible thing to do is to close the case of the first respondent.”
The petitioner’s counsel, Adetunji Oyeyipo, SAN, in his response to INEC’s submission, noted that they were not surprised and would not be objecting to INEC’s submission.
Okpebholo and the APC counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, and D. C. Dewigwe, also did not oppose INEC’s submission.
Ikpeazu afterwards submitted an oral application to the court for an adjournment to prepare their witnesses.
He said, “My Lord, we apply for a date to enable us to open our case—if I have been mindful, I thought we were going to use the next three days to attend to the first respondent’s (INEC) witnesses.
“I have not already arranged for the witnesses to be moved. I am appealing for maybe next week.”
The panel subsequently granted the request and adjourned to February 10 for the second respondent to open their case.
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