The Independent National Electoral Commission is set to begin calling its witnesses before the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja on Thursday.
This follows the closure of the petitioners’ case on Monday.
The petitioners, the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate in the 2024 Edo State polls, Asue Ighodalo, are challenging INEC’s declaration of Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the September 21, 2024 governorship election.
The petitioners are seeking the nullification of the election result, alleging that INEC declared the wrong winner.
According to INEC’s official results, Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who garnered 247,655 votes.
The petitioners contend that the election was marred by non-compliance with the Electoral Act, highlighting issues such as alleged overvoting and the collation of incorrect figures at the centres.
Some of the petitioners’ witnesses testified that this was the reason they refused to sign the result sheets at their respective wards and polling units.
At the resumed sitting, INEC’s lead counsel, Abdullahi Aliyu (SAN), informed the tribunal that the commission had lined up five witnesses to testify in its defence.
INEC also requested an adjournment until Thursday to allow its witnesses, many of whom are travelling from Benin, Edo State, to testify before the tribunal.
Meanwhile, INEC tendered the results of the Edo governorship election it conducted, submitting certified true copies of the Form EC8D result to the tribunal.
The commission also presented a certified document containing the declaration of the result, as well as a copy of its 2022 Regulations & Guidelines for the conduct of elections.
Both the petitioners and the second and third defendants, Okpebholo and the APC, did not object to the documents being admitted.
The tribunal panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, duly admitted the documents as Exhibits R-1, R-2, and R-3.
