The Edo State government and the ruling all Progressives Congress, APC, as well as their teeming supporters were upbeat on Thursday as the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Thursday, upheld the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo, as the winner of the September 21, 2024, governorship election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that the judgement coincided with the second-year anniversary of the APC administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, making it a double celebration. A contrary verdict would have cast gloom on the democracy day celebration in the governor’s camp while reinvigorating the opposition.
In its judgement delivered by Justice Mohammed Danjuma in the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its governorship candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, the three-member panel, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal, describing it as devoid of merit.
Justice Danjuma held that the PDP and Ighodalo failed to establish a miscarriage of justice in the judgement of the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal which had earlier dismissed the petition of the appellants.