•A’Court faults, expunges BVAS from tribunal’s record, Wike congratulates governor

Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in Edo State, Mr Asue Ighodalo, has vowed to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his case challenging the declaration of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the governor of the state.

Ighodalo and his party had approached the appellate court to challenge the April 2, judgment of the tribunal, which held that they failed to prove their allegations of non-compliance during the conduct of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State.

They claimed that the tribunal erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice, when they concluded that the appellants dumped documents especially the Bimodal Verification Accreditation System (BVAS) machines on the court and also failed to call credible witnesses to prove their case.

The appellate court in a unanimous judgment, yesterday, disagreed with the appellants, stating that they have not found any tangible reason to deviate from the findings and conclusions of the tribunal.

Justice Mohammed Danjuma, who delivered the lead judgment held that the appellants failed to prove their allegations of non-compliance, because they did not call the proper persons to speak about how the said non-compliance occurred, adding that the witnesses based their evidence on the testimonies of others.

Before delving into the merit of the appeal, Justice Danjuma resolved a cross appeal filed by Okpebholo against part of the tribunal’s judgment, in favour of Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Okpebholo and APC had opposed the admissibility of the BVAS machines, which was admitted by the tribunal, although did not attach any value to it because the appellants failed to demonstrate how the machine operates.

However, the appellate court held that it was wrong for the tribunal to have admitted the document from the bar, after a contention by parties, adding that documents admitted from the bar are documents consented to by parties.

Having faulted the process via which the BVAS was admitted, the appellate court subsequently made an order expunging all the evidence attached to the BVAS as well as its admittance.

Danjuma pointed out that since the bottom of the case of the appellants (BVAS) has fallen, the case of the appellants is lacking in merit and was hereby dismissed.

The appellate court agreed with the tribunal on the issue of over-voting and improper computation of results, stressing that the appellants should have called polling units agents to testified how the results were inflated or how the documents were not filled by officials of the electoral umpire.

He also agreed with the tribunal that some of the testimonies provided by some of the witnesses were hearsay for not being presented by the original witnesses, who were present at the polling units but by reporting officers.

However, speaking with journalists shortly after the judgment, Chairman of the PDP in the state, Mr Tony Aziegbemi, said their lawyers would obtain the Certified True Copy (CTC) of Court of Appeal judgment to enable them approach the Supreme Court.

While accusing the justices of bias, Aziegbemi said, “there are so many grounds to appeal to the Supreme Court”, and therefore urged PDP faithful to remain calm and keep hope alive.

 Also speaking, Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr Dennis Idahosa, congratulated his principal and the people of Edo State for the victory, eben as he called on Ighodalo to “embrace the judgment and let’s come together and develop Edo State”.

Meanwhile, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has congratulated Okpebholo, on the Appeal Court judgment, that affirmed his election in the September 2024 governorship poll.

The minister in statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, urged the governor to remain focused and committed to good governance and provision of democracy dividends to the people.

He said the Appeal Court judgment was a further confirmation of the mandate freely and genuinely given to Okpebholo by the people of Edo State.

He reiterated his belief in the governor’s ability to continue to provide good governance, saying, “I have watched him since he assumed office and I can say that he has been doing well for Edo State and its people.

 “For me, I believe in him, and I am confident that his government will have sustainable impact on Edo State.”