The three-member Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, targeted fresh allegations of excessive voting in the September 21, 2024 Edo State governorship election. The hearing was resumed.
The investigating agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ovia South-West Local Government Area has testified that multiple overvotes occurred in favor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at seven polling stations in the area.
PDP witnesses claimed that in voting units 014, 007, 004, 006, 016, 028, and 034, the total number of votes cast exceeded the total number of certified voters.
“Despite clear evidence of overvoting in these voting sectors, INEC failed to annul the results,” the witness said in the affidavit.
The witness who acted as the PDP collation agent for Ovia South West submitted the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) accreditation report, the certified true copy (CTC) of the result sheet (Form EC8A-C) and the BVAS extract. relied upon to substantiate the testimony. claims.
In his cross-examination, he revealed that PDP officials observed over-voting and lodged a complaint with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but their complaints were ignored.
Witnesses highlighted that the alleged fraud occurred in the local government area of Hon. Dennis Idahosa is the running mate of the APC gubernatorial candidate and is currently the deputy governor.
Counsel Kanu Agabi (SAN) for the first defendant (INEC) and Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), lawyer for the second defendant (APC candidate Okpeboro) challenged the admissibility of the witness’s sworn statement.
However, the court overruled the objection and admitted the statements into evidence.
The hearing will continue as the court examines more PDP witnesses, who are expected to present additional evidence in support of allegations of election fraud.
The court has not yet set a date for issuing its judgment on the petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024.