The Edo state governorship election tribunal commenced hearings on Monday on the electoral disputes in the aftermath of the September 21, elections with petitions against the APC’s victory filed by various parties, including Ighodalo and Aziegbemi of the PDP.

The election tribunal held its inaugural sitting for the pre-hearing sessions. The three-member tribunal panel, chaired by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, sitting in Benin City, the Edo state capital, began its proceeding on Monday as it set to hear petitions filed against the declaration of the winner of the election, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Monday Okpebholo, and his deputy Dennis Idahosa.

In attendance at the court for the inaugural session was one of the petitioners at the tribunal, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Asue Ighodalo, and the chairman of the party’s state caretaker committee, Tony Aziegbemi.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Okpebholo of the APC the winner of the Edo state governorship, having polled 291,667 votes ahead of his close contenders, the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Asue Ighodalo and Labour Party, Olumide Akpata, who polled 247,274 and 22,763 votes, respectively.

Not satisfied with the outcome of the election, the PDP and its candidate challenged the victory of the APC candidate. Apart from PDP, six other parties that participated in the election joined in filing their petition before the tribunal to seek redress.

The other parties that have petitioned the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election are the Accord Party, Social Democratic Party, SDP, Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, Action Democratic Party, ADP, Accord Party, AP, and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, APM.

In their separate petitions, the parties asked the election tribunal to nullify the governorship election that brought in the candidate of the APC on the ground that the poll was not conducted in compliance with the Electoral Act.

The party stated that the INEC ought to have nullified the election and ordered a fresh election in Edo, where the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections of the Ist Respondent shall be complied with.

While the other parties are calling for a new election across the state, as they maintained that the poll did not follow due process, the candidate of the PDP also asked the tribunal to declare him the winner of the election after the nullification of Senator Okpebholo’s victory during the poll.

Despite the presence of heavy security operatives, there was a clash between the supporters of all the political parties present at the court, leading to the commotion around the venue of the tribunal.

However, to prevent the clash from disrupting the tribunal session, security operatives blocked the entrance and other routes leading to the court, which later relieved the tension.

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