Governor Monday Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have secured an early legal victory as the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed a petition challenging their win in the September 21, 2024, election.
The tribunal, in its first judgment on Wednesday, struck out a petition filed by the Action Alliance (AA) and Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, ruling that it lacked merit and was frivolous. The court held that Omoaje had no locus standi to file the case since his claims were unrelated to election matters.
It further noted that Omoaje did not participate in the governorship election, disqualifying him from contesting its validity. His primary grievance was that he was not recognized as the National Chairman of the AA, which, according to him, prevented the party from fielding a lawful governorship candidate. However, the tribunal ruled that this argument had no foundation under the Electoral Act 2022.
In the petition, Omoaje had sought to nullify the declaration of Okpebholo and the APC as winners, alleging non-compliance with the Electoral Act, corruption, and lack of majority votes.
INEC had declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, ahead of his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 247,655 votes.
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