The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State remains optimistic about securing victory at the ongoing Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Edo State PDP, outlined the party’s strategy in a recent interview on Arise News Television monitored by Truth Live News.
Aziegbemi highlighted the distinct nature of their petition against the declaration of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the winner of the September 21, 2024, gubernatorial election. “I am confident that PDP would be declared winner of that election because of the evidence we’ve produced. This petition is the first of its kind in this country; where we are not pleading financial inducement, we are not pleading ballot box snatching, we are not pleading any of those things that will be difficult for you to prove,” he stated.
He emphasized the legal and factual basis of their claim, noting, “We are bringing to the judiciary, the tribunal, specifics. If the law says where the number of votes cast is more than the number of accredited voters, and such is authenticated by the BVAS extract, it means the unit’s result must be cancelled because of over voting. These are things you can place your fingers on and say if it happened and you can prove that it happened and you have documents to show that it happened, because INEC certified all those documents for us. That is where our confidence stems from.”
In a surprising turn of events at the tribunal led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, the only witness for Governor Okpebholo, Usman Majek, inadvertently supported the PDP’s claim. Aziegbemi remarked on this development, “The witness Senator Monday Okpebholo brought today is from Ovia South West, we used him to authenticate what we have been saying that there was over voting in 133 polling units and he has agreed to our petition today that yes, there was over voting.”
The revelation led to an immediate strategic retreat by Okpebholo’s legal team, who quickly closed their case and requested an adjournment until Wednesday, February 12, 2025, to regroup.
This unfolding drama at the tribunal underscores the PDP’s strategy to leverage clear, documented evidence over traditional claims of electoral misconduct, setting the stage for what could be a landmark decision in Nigerian electoral jurisprudence.