The Edo governorship election tribunal has dismissed the petition by Action Alliance (AA) and Adekunle Rufai Omoaje against Governor Monday Okpebholo and his political platform, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as winners of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in the state.
The three-member tribunal, in a unanimous judgment yesterday in Abuja, threw out the petition for being frivolous and lacking in merit.
In the first judgment of the Tribunal yesterday, the Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led tribunal held that Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, who filed the joint petition, has no locus standi to institute the case.
Among others, the Tribunal held that Omoaje did not participate in the governorship election and as such, has no power to question the validity of the election.
The Tribunal also held that Omoaje’s grouse against the election was that he was not recognized as the National Chairman of the Action Alliance for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the poll, but it was held that his claims had no basis in the Electoral Act 2022.
Omoaje had in the petition asked the Tribunal to declare the declaration of Okpebholo and APC as winners of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as illegal, unlawful, unconditional and null and void on non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
He also alleged corruption and that Okpebholo and APC did not win the majority of lawful votes in the election.
Omoaje also alleged that AA was not allowed to nominate a lawful governorship candidate for the election, having not signed the nomination form as the National Chairman of the party.
INEC declared that Okpebholo of the APC won 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, who polled 247,655 votes in the election.
