With a move that has been described as a legal masterstroke, the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Thursday, closed its defence before the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja.
The party, through its legal team, led by Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, said it was satisfied with the unassailable evidence of four witnesses it produced before the Justice Wilfred Kpochi led three-man panel.
It noted that the four witnesses had in their testimonies, punctured all the allegations the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, raised in the petition that is seeking to nullify Governor Monday Okpebholo’s election victory.
The witnesses had confirmed to the tribunal that the governorship election that held in Edo state on September 21, 2024, was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act.
According to the witnesses who served as Local Government Collation Agents, the petitioners lied when they alleged that the election was marred by over- voting.
They, however, disclosed that in some polling units where it was discovered that the number of accredited voters exceeded the votes recorded, especially in places that were strongholds of the PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, during the collation process, discarded all the results that enananed from such polling units.
Earlier, some of the 19 witnesses that testified for the petitioners, admitted that Governor Okpebholo scored the highest number of lawful votes at their respective polling units.
Satisfied that the petitioners, by evidence of their own witnesses, shot themselves on the foot, both APC and Governor Okpebholo decided to rest their defence.
The tribunal has fixed March 3 for the parties to appear before it to adopt their final briefs of argument.
