The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Thursday, May 29, upheld the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected Governor of Edo State. This ruling affirmed the earlier decision of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had validated Okpebholo's victory in the September 21, 2024, governorship election. The appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who challenged the election outcome.

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, with Justice Mohammed Danjuma delivering the lead judgment, found the PDP's appeal to be devoid of merit. The court ruled that Ighodalo and the PDP failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate their allegations of electoral irregularities, which included claims of vote manipulation, overvoting, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022. The court maintained that the election was conducted in substantial compliance with the law and that the petitioners did not successfully establish that the tribunal had erred in its judgment.

Interestingly, the Court of Appeal held that the election petition tribunal had erred in admitting 133 BVAS machines presented by the petitioners as evidence. Consequently, the appellate court expunged this evidence, stating that the tribunal did not comply with relevant statutes for tendering such documentary evidence. The court further noted that the tribunal was correct in finding that the PDP and its candidate had "dumped" evidence on it without clearly demonstrating non-compliance and over-voting. It was also held that the petitioners failed to call adequate witnesses to speak to the exhibits they tendered, and the few witnesses presented testified on issues deemed unrelated to the matters before the tribunal.

The September 21, 2024, Edo State governorship election saw Monday Okpebholo of the APC secure 291,667 votes. He defeated PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP), who came a distant third with 22,763 votes. Fourteen other candidates also contested the election. Following the poll, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Okpebholo the winner. He was subsequently sworn in as governor on November 12, 2024, taking over from PDP's Godwin Obaseki.

The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had earlier, in a verdict reportedly delivered on April 2, dismissed the petition by Ighodalo and the PDP, affirming Okpebholo’s victory. The PDP challenged this decision at the Court of Appeal, alleging that the APC’s victory was marred by widespread irregularities and malpractices, and sought either the annulment of the election or the declaration of Ighodalo as the winner. In January, an 'investigative report' had also alleged that the Edo governorship election was rigged for the APC by design.

In its immediate response to the Court of Appeal's judgment, the PDP expressed disappointment and announced its intention to contest the decision at the Supreme Court, describing the appellate court’s ruling as a temporary setback and reiterating its belief that Ighodalo was the rightful winner.

In other recent news from Edo State, it was reported that a 75-year-old Edo pilgrim died in Saudi Arabia during the 2025 Hajj. Additionally, the Edo State governor announced an increase in the minimum wage. Politically, Maria Oligbi-Edeko, representing Esan North-East II, resigned from her position as the deputy speaker of the Edo House of Assembly due to the PDP's minority status in the assembly, following defections of its members, including the Speaker, to the ruling APC.