Edo election: Drama at tribunal as Okpebholo’s witness admits over-voting

Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has opened and closed his case at the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal with only one witness who admitted over-voting in the gubernatorial election.

At the resumed hearing on Monday, February 10, 2025, the lead counsel for Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), told the tribunal that the business of the day was for his client to open his case.

Ikpeazu prayed Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led three-member tribunal to allow him to call his only witness.

The witness, Usman Majek, told the tribunal that he was a polling unit agent of the APC during the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.

Under cross-examination, the witness agreed that there was over-voting in his polling unit.

He also affirmed that in his unit, accreditation and voting took place simultaneously.

Majek told the tribunal that he complained to the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) about the result he entered on the result sheet after he signed it.

After Majek’s testimony, Ikpeazu applied to close the defence of his client.

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The tribunal granted the application as there was no objection from the other counsel.

The tribunal, thereafter, adjourned proceedings until February 12 for the APC to open its case.

The latest development follows a similar move by INEC, which closed its defence earlier without calling a single witness, despite having listed several individuals to support its declaration of Okpebholo as the winner of the disputed election.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, had approached the tribunal praying it to invalidate the outcome of the governorship election.

The petitioners sought the invalidation of the governorship election on the grounds of alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.

They further contended that Okpebholo did not secure the highest number of majority votes cast in the governorship election.

The Star