Edo: APC, PDP dismiss judgment leak as tribunal rules today

The All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, on Tuesday, dismissed as fake the copies of the purported judgment of the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal that flooded the internet on Tuesday.

APC Publicity Director, Bala Ibrahim, who is confident that the ruling party will win today’s judgment, claimed that the PDP leaked a fake judgment, knowing they would lose.

However, the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, accused the APC of using the leaked fake document to gauge public reaction, while asserting that the tribunal’s proceedings from the beginning indicated that the PDP would emerge victorious.

On Tuesday, the three-man tribunal, which sat in Abuja, announced that judgment would be delivered today (Wednesday) on the petition filed by the PDP and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, seeking to nullify the victory of the APC and Governor Monday Okpebholo in the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.

The PDP and Ighodalo rejected the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission that Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo, who garnered 247,655 votes.

The PDP and Ighodalo had then approached the tribunal, seeking to nullify Okpebholo’s victory.

In a petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, they accused Okpebholo of not receiving the highest number of votes in the election, claiming that the process was riddled with several irregularities.

They alleged that over-voting occurred during the election and urged the tribunal to annul the election due to non-serialisation of ballots, incorrect collation of figures, and errors in the computation of results.

The petitioners also argued that the election violated provisions of the Electoral Act.

One of the main allegations from the petitioners was that INEC failed to properly serialise and pre-record sensitive materials used in the election.

 They claimed this oversight facilitated the rigging of the election in favour of the APC and its candidate.

To support their claims, the PDP and Ighodalo fielded 19 witnesses before the tribunal and tendered numerous documents.

They also subpoenaed a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT Department, who presented 154 BVAS machines to the tribunal as evidence to back up their allegations.

In response to the allegations, Okpebholo presented one witness, Usman Majek, a 31-year-old from Usen in Edo State, who, during cross-examination, affirmed alleged over-voting.

On its part, the APC called four witnesses, while INEC decided to call none.

In their closing arguments, the petitioners urged the tribunal to annul the election, arguing that they had provided sufficient evidence to prove their allegations and that Ighodalo should be declared the winner.

On the other hand, the respondents, including INEC, asked the tribunal to dismiss the petition, claiming it lacked merit.

Upon conclusion of hearings on March 3, the three-man tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, reserved judgment until a date to be communicated to the parties.

On Tuesday, however, the tribunal announced that the judgment was ready and would be delivered on Wednesday (today).

Hours after the announcement, purported copies of the judgment surfaced online, claiming a two-to-one split in the tribunal’s decision.

Reacting to the development, the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Osadolor, accused the APC of being behind the leak to gauge public reaction.

He warned President Bola Tinubu against interfering with justice.

He stated, “The APC owns the judgments, they are behind the tribunal judgments that are in circulation. They want to test water. I want to put President Tinubu on notice that issues like these are not things he should keep close. He should go and check how the second and third republics all ended and what led to it.

“These issues of electoral or democratic arrogance are something that is becoming too much. We are seeing situations where political actors who should know better have turned themselves into those who have lost memories of their past.

“But let me tell you, the elections in Edo, the hearing is not concluded. All eyes are watching, not only the judiciary in this case but also the President. The whole world is watching the outcome of his judgment tomorrow (Wednesday). And it’s an opportunity for both the President and the judiciary to redeem themselves.

“So, this judgment that is being circulated to test the waters, let the President and let Nigerians know that it should stop at an experimental stage. And tomorrow, these judgments, whatever they are, should not be read, so that this country can remain one, peaceful, and united. Because the whole world knows what happened in Edo, and the judiciary is seen as the last hope of the common man. So nobody should, no matter how highly placed, try to stop the judiciary from performing its functions. Let the judiciary be free.”

Osadolor, who expressed confidence in his party’s victory, claimed that both the APC and INEC failed to present witnesses to testify before the tribunal.

He continued, “The hearing was not held in a secret room or a secret court ground. It was held openly. The INEC itself could not defend the results of the elections it conducted. The APC itself could not call witnesses to defend the results that they said they won.

“So, if you put all of these together, and the results that INEC said on the spot, it is more than hopeful to say that tomorrow, the PDP will be vindicated and declared a winner, rightfully, as it should have been done on the day of the election. So I have no fears in my heart. I only pity those who delayed this justice until tomorrow. And I also pray that the candidates of the PDP and well-meaning Nigerians, who have been traumatized by the rape of democracy that took place in their country, have space in their hearts to forgive the perpetrators of this crime and move on.”

In response to the alleged leaked copies of the judgment, the APC Publicity Director, Ibrahim, stated that the PDP should be held accountable for the leak.

Ibrahim, in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, criticised the PDP for attempting to blame the ruling party for the leak.

He stated, “Well, for them to accuse the APC of releasing the judgment online, it means they have knowledge of the movement of the judgment beforehand. If you don’t have knowledge about the movement of something, you cannot be able to talk about its direction. So the PDP is supposed to be held responsible for even knowing how judgments move about before they are released, how they get on social media.

“They know what they have done. And they are afraid that investigation will unveil and reveal them. That is why they are trying to preempt what is happening. The APC has no business in releasing judgment when it is not a judge. How can the APC have access to the tribunal, to the judges, to the panelists? Talk less of getting the judgment and releasing it on social media or leaking it. The PDP has got to answer questions.

“Well, the court is supposed to be the last hope of the ordinary man. And whoever is put in a tribunal is put there on the basis of his integrity, his honesty, and his dedication to justice. Therefore, we are expecting the judiciary to answer to their name, to rise to their expectations, do justice to the situation, and deliver judgment on merit.

“We are very optimistic. And even our optimism becomes stronger with this attitude of the PDP. The PDP must have sensed that they have lost, and now they sense they have lost at the tribunal. And that is why they are trying to create a situation of confusion. But we are law-abiding. We are going to continue to be law-abiding. And with what we have done and our submission in court, we are optimistic that justice is going to be delivered, and it will be delivered in our favor.”

Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Edo State, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, stated that the governor’s opponents were responsible for spreading the fake news, emphasising that such tactics would not succeed in today’s Nigeria.

He said, “Those are from rumour mongers, the judgment of the tribunal is sacrosanct until delivered. It is within the purview of the judges until it is delivered in the open court.

“The opponents of Okpebholo are the ones circulating that fake news. They are sick in their heads. Nigeria has outgrown that kind of shenanigan. It is fake news and it should be disregarded in its entirety.”