Ighodalo Submits Over 1,000 Documents in Edo Election Case

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the September 21, 2024, Edo State election, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, has filed a legal challenge against the results, claiming that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) wrongly declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All-Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.

Ighodalo’s legal team argues that he actually secured the highest number of valid votes, not Okpebholo and that the electoral process was marred by irregularities. The petition, which was filed before the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, has been designated as case number EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024.

On Friday, Ighodalo’s legal counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Adetunji Oyeyipo, presented a substantial amount of evidence in court, including more than 1,000 certified documents. Among the documents submitted were key forms and result sheets from various stages of the election process, which the petitioners say will demonstrate discrepancies and procedural errors.

The evidence included: Form EC8E: INEC’s final declaration result sheet, Form EC8D: Summary of local government area results, Form EC8C: Result sheets from the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs), Form EC8B: Ward result sheets from the state’s 192 wards, Form EC8A: Polling unit result sheets, with 320 documents presented, Polling Unit Booklets: 318 certified copies of forms containing further electoral details, Form EC8A (IREV): 58 certified copies of INEC’s online result upload forms.
The petitioners’ legal team, led by Oyeyipo, intends to use these documents to prove that Okpebholo’s victory was the result of electoral fraud and mismanagement. Kenneth Mozia, a member of Ighodalo’s legal team, presented the documents before the tribunal, stressing their significance in supporting the petition.

However, counsel representing INEC, Okpebholo, and the APC raised immediate objections to the admissibility of the documents. Senior Advocates Kanu Agabi, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, and D.C. Denwigwe, representing the respondents, argued that they would present detailed reasons for their objections at the final address stage of the trial.

The tribunal proceedings will continue in the coming weeks, with both the petitioners and respondents preparing for their closing arguments.