…Commission Abruptly Closes Case

…Court Adjourns to February 10

In a surprising turn of events at the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to present any witnesses on Thursday, February 6, to defend its declaration of APC candidate Senator Monday Okpebholo as the winner of the September 21 governorship election.

This unexpected development occurred despite INEC’s earlier plea for an adjournment to Wednesday, February 6, to enable it to present five witnesses after submitting three documents previously tendered by the petitioners.

During the resumed hearing of the petition, marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, INEC’s counsel, Kanu Agabi SAN, surprised the court by announcing that the Commission would not be presenting any witnesses and abruptly moved to close its case.

This decision reportedly left the courtroom in shock, particularly within the All Progressives Congress (APC) camp, which had expected INEC to provide oral evidence supporting its declaration of Senator Okpebholo as governor.

Penultimate week, under a subpoena by the PDP, Anthony Itodo, a senior technical officer in INEC’s ICT department, had submitted 152 BVAS machines as evidence to substantiate alleged multiple incidents of over-voting in the election.

Following INEC’s failure to present witnesses, counsel for Governor Okpebholo and the APC, Onyechi Ikpeazu SAN, and D. C. Dewigwe SAN, pleaded for an adjournment to gather their own witnesses and open their respective cases.

The tribunal adjourned the proceedings to February 10, 2025.