By Ayomide Otitoju
The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the legal dispute over the outcome of the Edo State governorship election, which declared Senator Monday Okpebholo as the duly elected governor.
The apex court, presided over by Justice Garba Lawal, adjourned the case sine die after hearing arguments from parties involved. Justice Lawal announced that the date for the final ruling would be communicated at a later time.
The appeal was filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who urged the court to set aside the declaration of Okpebholo as winner and instead affirm Ighodalo as the validly elected governor, citing that he secured the majority of lawful votes.
Arguing the case, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ken Mosia, insisted that Ighodalo’s victory had been unjustly overturned and sought the court’s intervention to restore his mandate.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), represented by Kanu Agabi, SAN, opposed the appeal, urging the court to dismiss it in its entirety. Agabi contended that the petition by Ighodalo and the PDP was contradictory, as they had earlier invalidated the election by claiming it did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
INEC argued that having declared the process invalid and unlawful, the petitioners could not subsequently seek to benefit from the same election. Agabi further accused the appellants of inconsistency and asked the court to strike out the case for lack of merit.
The Supreme Court’s final ruling is now highly anticipated as it will determine the ultimate winner of one of Nigeria’s most hotly contested gubernatorial elections.
