Edo 2024: Tribunal Throws Out PDP Petition

Abuja 02-04-2025

The Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja Wednesday evening threw out the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and its candidate, Barr Asue Ighodalo over insufficient evidence.

According to the tribunal, the petitioners presented but failed to provide proper witnesses to authenticate them. The tribunal noted that the documents were merely dumped before it without any corroborating testimony.

Fourteen of the 19 witnesses called by the petitioners are ward and local government agents. However, the star witness, said to be a director of strategy, did not play any role in the conduct of the election.

According to the tribunal, none of them spoke about the alleged failure to record electoral materials before the polls.

The tribunal also ruled that the witnesses produced by the petitioners were not competent to testify as witness. It added that the petitioners ought to have called eyewitnesses who were present at the polling units during the election.

The tribunal referred to the Supreme Court’s guidelines, which emphasized the point that oral evidence is required to prove over-voting. To that extent, it stated that it is bound by the Supreme Court’s declaration as a roadmap for handling related electoral disputes