The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the appeal filed by Asue Ighodalo and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to affirm the election of Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo.
The five-member Garba Lawal-led panel of Supreme Court justices unanimously upheld the decisions of the lower Court of Appeal and the governorship election petition tribunal which earlier validated the outcome of the September 2024 poll.
Delivering the lead judgement on Thursday, Mr Lawal dismissed the appellants’ case for lack of merit and sufficient proof.
The court noted that Mr Ighodalo and the PDP challenged the election results in only 395 of the 4,519 polling units, and their 19 witnesses did not help their case. Therefore, the court held that the appellants failed to prove that the elections were marred by overvoting or irregularities.
Mr Ighodalo accepted the finality of the Supreme Court decision laying the election dispute to rest, but rejected its substance which he claimed fell short of justice.
“Though I accept the finality of its judgment, I do not and cannot pretend that what was delivered amounts to justice,” the governorship candidate wrote in a statement he posted on X shortly after the verdict was delivered Thursday.
“What happened in the September 2024 Governorship Election was not a contest. It was a robbery. Coordinated. Deliberate. And now, tragically validated by the highest court in the land. While I will not and can not obstruct any judicial pronouncement, no matter how flawed, I must never fear to speak truth to power,” Mr Ighodalo stated.
