Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Samson Osagie, yesterday said that the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal reaffirmed the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo in governorship election because the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, failed to back their allegations with concrete evidence before the tribunal.
Osagie added that it is not enough for the petitioner to throw tantrums here and there for the sake of challenging the winner.
The former federal lawmaker spoke with newsmen on the side-line of the 10th anniversary of the passing of his late father, Pa Samson Imarhiagbe-Ogbewe , held at the family compound in Urhokuosa , Uhunmwode Local Government Area, which attracted dignitaries and well-wishers.
He said the victory of Okpebholo at the tribunal was a reaffirmation of practical governance as currently being witnessed in the state with the flag off of massive projects across the state.
He said: “The tribunal judgement for the APC and the Governor, Monday Okpebholo was merely stating the obvious. We know that Okpebholo won the election on September 21st, 2024 therefore; it could not have been otherwise for a tribunal that was confronted with no evidence of the allegation of malpractices by those who have petitioned.
“It is not enough to allege, it is not enough to throw tantrums that I won the election, but you must demonstrate that you won, this, the PDP and its candidate failed woefully to do. How do you defend and prosecute an election petition when you did not call any eyewitness in any part of the state, you can’t go and forge papers and dump them in the court and ask the court to start reading and all that.
“If the courts were to start looking at the documents and opening the BVAS studying it, they will probably need to go to Harvard and study how to operate the machines. It was the duty of the petitioner to lead the tribunal to understand what they mean using the equipment they brought to court.
He further noted that the governor is more determined in delivering peoples-oriented projects adding that the Okpebholo’s administration in Edo state is God ordained.
On his late father’s tenth year anniversary Osagie thanked all those who came and stood by the family over the years and noted that the family will continue to honour and imbibe their late father’s legacy of hard work.
