The 2024 Edo State Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Asue Ighodalo, alongside the party on Saturday tendered more documentary evidence to support their petition at the Election Petition Tribunal (EPT) sitting in Benin City.
Recall that Ighodalo and PDP who are contesting the outcome of the governorship election had on Friday opened their case by tendering over a thousand documents before the court.
At the resumption of the hearing on Saturday, some of the additional documents were tendered by the counsel to the petitioners, Ken. Mozia, SAN, include 55 Certified True Copies (CTC) of polling Units Voters register used in the election.
The counsel further tendered 122 Certified True Copies of extracts of accreditation figures from the BVAS device.
Additionally, Mozia tendered 75 Certified True Copies of INEC’s Results Viewing (IREV) Containing Form EC8A and 70 CTCs’ of INEC’s Polling Units Booklets, containing Form EC25B.
Also tendered were 66 copies of Polling Units Voters Register and 125 copies of Form EC8A from IREV (all Certified True Copies)
He again tendered 125 copies of Form EC8A from IREV, directly certified by INEC, 101 copies of Form EC8A, CTC of Edo State BIVAS of Polling Unit by Polling Unit’s (PUs) Report as well as certificate of compliance by INEC.
In further support of the petitioners’ case, Learned Senior Counsel also tendered in court CTC of Certificate of Compliance with BIVAS machines’ Report in respect of the 133 Polling Units earlier tendered as exhibited in the petition.
“My Lords, we wish to tender CTC of Copy of serial numbers BIVAS machines’ deployed to 133 Polling Units and Certificate of Compliance”, he prayed the court.
However, counsel to the three respondents, Abdullahi Aliyu SAN, Offiong Offiong, SAN, and Chief Ferdinand Orbih, SAN, raised objections to the admissibility of the documents.
They, however, reserved their reasons for their objections to the admissibility of the petitioners’ documents at the address stage.
Particularly, while counsel to the 1st Respondent (INEC), Aliyu did not object to admission of certificate of compliance with BIVAS machines used in 133 polling units, counsel to the 2nd and 3rd respondents, Offiong and Orbih objected and reserved their reasons.
Mr. Ighodalo and the PDP approached the tribunal, challenging INEC’s declaration of Governor Monday Okpebholo as the winner of the September 21, 2024 guber election.
Ighodalo is urging the court to declare him the winner of the election, claiming he scored the highest valid votes cast in the exercise.
