The Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal witnessed tense moments on Wednesday as key witnesses for the All Progressives Congress (APC) gave conflicting testimonies over the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo as Governor of Edo State.
The result is being contested by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo.
Presiding over the tribunal, Justice Wilfred Kpochi listened as APC’s Collation Agent for Esan North East LGA, Theophilus Afuda, reversed his earlier statement under cross-examination. Initially, Afuda had sworn that no over-voting occurred during the September 21 election.
However, when questioned by PDP’s lead counsel, Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), he admitted that cases of over-voting and missing serial numbers on sensitive election materials were evident in official electoral documents.
Afuda also confirmed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to record serial numbers of ballot papers and result sheets as required, a procedural lapse the PDP argues invalidates results from the affected polling units.
In a key exchange, Owonikoko presented Form EC25B—the document meant to record serial numbers of election materials—and asked Afuda to verify if any entries had been made.
After reviewing the form, Afuda admitted, “I can’t find any entries, My Lord.”
Engr. Gabriel Iduseri, APC’s collation agent for Oredo LGA, also delivered a surprising testimony. Under cross-examination, he acknowledged that the final results used to declare Okpebholo as the winner did not match polling unit results uploaded onto the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal.
Further inconsistencies emerged when he confirmed that while collation agents were required to verify results before they were recorded into Form EC8C, the documents presented in court lacked the signatures of party agents and did not match the original signed EC8A results from polling units.
“These results are strange, My Lord. I do not know where they emanated from,” Iduseri stated, causing murmurs in the courtroom.
Frank David, an APC witness from Owan West LGA, also admitted under questioning that INEC failed to document serial numbers of ballot papers and result sheets in Form EC25B before voting began—another issue central to the PDP’s petition.
Following the revelations, PDP chieftain Hon. Ogbeide Ifaluyi-Isibor declared that the testimonies had strengthened his party’s case.
“We knew the APC would be unable to defend their electoral heist, so we are not surprised that their witnesses are confirming to the tribunal that the election was rigged. In fact, we are grateful to the APC’s witnesses for telling the truth under oath,” he said.
“For us, the issue is simple: if you remove all the invalid votes from INEC’s failure to record sensitive materials, cancel polling units where over-voting occurred, and collate the correct results, Barr. Asue Ighodalo clearly won the election.”
With the tribunal’s scrutiny intensifying, the case has been adjourned to Thursday, February 13, 2025, for the continuation of hearings.