The Supreme Court has upheld the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State in the September 2024 governorship election in the state.

The Supreme Court has upheld the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State in the September 2024 governorship election in the state.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court on Thursday, unanimously, affirmed the verdict of the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election, Asue Ighodalo, had alleged corruption and non-compliance in the electoral act in the election, adding that Okpebholo and the APC failed to win a majority of lawful votes despite INEC declaring it had 247,655 votes against 291,667 of the PDP.

In the lead judgement Justice Garba Lawal, the apex court held that “The appellant did not satisfactorily discharge the burden of proof placed on him by the law.”

The panel held that the petitioners failed to prove that there was non-compliance in 432 of the 4519 polling units in the state.

Similarly, he said they failed to present witnesses to demonstrate the failure in the Biomodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and thus the materials were dumped on the court.