The Supreme Court of Nigeria has reserved its judgment in the appeal arising from the legal battle over the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.
The apex court, after hearing arguments from counsel representing all parties involved, announced that the final judgment date will be communicated in due course.
A five-member panel of justices, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, presided over the session on Wednesday, where lawyers presented their final submissions. The appeal was initiated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Asue Ighodalo (SAN).
In the appeal, Ighodalo and the PDP are challenging the declaration of Dennis Idahosa Okpebholo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the duly elected governor by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC had declared Okpebholo winner of the poll after he garnered 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who secured 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 22,763 votes.
Representing the appellants, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ken Mozia, urged the Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the Court of Appeal, set aside the earlier judgments of the lower courts, and declare Ighodalo as the lawful winner of the election based on the majority of valid votes cast.
However, INEC, represented by its legal counsel, former Attorney General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi (SAN), opposed the appeal and prayed the court to dismiss it entirely. Agabi argued that the appellants had shown inconsistency in their claims throughout the legal process.
According to him, having previously sought the nullification of the election on the basis that it was unlawful and marred by irregularities, the appellants cannot now request to be declared winners of the same election. He maintained that their case lacked merit and should be dismissed.
Earlier in the legal journey, Ighodalo and the PDP had approached the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal to challenge the legitimacy of the election result.
The petitioners alleged widespread irregularities and claimed that the conduct of the poll was fraught with substantial non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022. They prayed the tribunal to annul the declaration of Okpebholo as governor-elect.
However, on April 2, the tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed the petition. The three-member panel concluded that the petitioners failed to present credible evidence or competent witnesses to substantiate their claims. As a result, the tribunal upheld Okpebholo’s victory.
Unwilling to accept the verdict, the PDP and its candidate proceeded to the Court of Appeal. Yet again, on May 29, a three-member appellate panel chaired by Justice Mohammed Danjuma affirmed the tribunal’s ruling and dismissed the appeal for lack of merit.
With the case now before the Supreme Court, all eyes remain on the apex court’s final decision, which will bring an end to the prolonged legal dispute over the Edo governorship seat.