Mr Viral
Despite the official electoral and court verdicts declaring Governor Monday Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as victors of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) insisted that its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, was the rightful winner.
PDP spokesman, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, reaffirmed the party’s position in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday.
“We continue to believe in the judiciary’s ability to deliver justice, and as such, our party and candidate Dr. Ighodalo will proceed to the Court of Appeal, where we trust a thorough judicial review will ensure justice for the people of Edo State,” Ologunagba declared.
This statement followed the ruling by the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, delivered by Justice Wilfred Kpochi.
The tribunal upheld Governor Okpebholo’s election and dismissed the petition filed by Ighodalo and the PDP, asserting that the election was validly conducted.
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Justice Kpochi’s ruling emphasized that the petitioners failed to prove allegations of over-voting and did not present necessary witnesses to substantiate their claims
The tribunal further noted that Ighodalo and the PDP submitted documents without providing adequate context or supporting testimony, failing to present the required voter register, BVAS, and EC8A forms to prove their case.
“The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after a thorough review of the judgment of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal asserts that the verdict is an absolute miscarriage of justice and a complete betrayal of the trust Nigerians, particularly the people of Edo State invested in the Election Tribunal.
“The PDP insists that with the avalanche of evidence as properly presented and also duly admitted by the Tribunal, it was clear that its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo won the September 21, 2024 Edo State Governorship election, having scored the highest number of valid votes cast in the election.
It is very disturbing that despite the overwhelming evidence and findings by the Tribunal that the PDP was robbed of its clear victory at the election through manipulations including wrongful allocation of votes to the All Progressives Congress (APC), arbitrary and illegal cancellation of valid votes won by the PDP, the Election Tribunal contradicted itself by coming to a conclusion that is at variance with its own findings.
It is instructive to note that democracy can only thrive in an atmosphere of adherence to the Rule of Law and adjudication of issues which can only be accepted by the people when indeed a tribunal of such nature impartially apply the law, the facts and body of evidence made available to it at proceedings
“However, consistent with PDP’s avowed belief in the capacity of the judiciary to, in appropriate cases, ensure that justice is done, our Party and candidate Dr. Asue Ighodalo are proceeding to the Court of Appeal where we believe that there will be a conscientious judicial review of the matter to give justice to the people of Edo State,” the PDP national spokesman stated.
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