The Edo State chapters of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party on Monday clashed over an alleged plan by the PDP to stage a protest at the office of the Attorney General of the Federation in Abuja regarding the legal dispute over the Edo State governorship election.

In a statement, Edo APC Chairman, Jarret Tenebe, accused the PDP of planning the protest to influence the ongoing governorship election tribunal.

He said, “Security agencies, including the Police, Department of State Services, and Nigerian Army, must be vigilant and take necessary measures to prevent a potential disruption of the Office of the Attorney General by supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.”

The development comes just hours after the Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal reserved judgment on the petition filed by the PDP and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, challenging the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election, which APC’s Governor Monday Okpebholo won.

However, PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, dismissed the APC’s claims as “most unfortunate.”

While confirming that the PDP planned to hold a rally in Abuja, Osadolor criticised the APC for attempting to misrepresent their intentions.

He said, “The APC and its agents have become a propaganda machine. We saw the kind of election they conducted in Edo, where votes were allocated randomly. We also saw the pollution they did with the Rivers LG election.”

Defending the rally’s purpose, he added, “The rally we are having is a peaceful one. What we are trying to say is that what happened in Edo must not be allowed to stand in a democracy if we want to avoid strife in this country. It is something that all men of goodwill must stand up to and say ‘Enough is enough.’”

Osadolor further called on President Bola Tinubu to caution the Edo APC leadership.

He said, “The President must call Jarret Tenebe, the state APC Chairman, and all his hirelings to order. He should let them know that the reason he is President today was that a man called Goodluck Jonathan handed over peacefully and seamlessly to his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who handed the baton to him.”

Meanwhile, the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal on Monday reserved judgment on the petition filed by the PDP and its governorship candidate, Ighodalo.

The PDP and Ighodalo are challenging the September 21, 2024, governorship election conducted in the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which declared the All Progressives Congress’ Monday Okpebholo the winner.
During the presentation of witnesses, Ighodalo’s legal team called 19 witnesses to defend their claim that the election should be nullified.

The petitioners also subpoenaed a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT Department, who tendered 154 BVAS machines to the tribunal to support their allegations of over-voting.

Aside from over-voting, the petitioners are praying for the tribunal to nullify the election over non-serialisation of ballots, incorrect collation of figures, and erroneous computation of scores.

INEC, Okpebholo and the APC are first to third respondents, respectively in the petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024.

After the petitioners closed their case, INEC, being the first respondent, opened its defence but did not present any witnesses in response to the petitioners’ claims.

Governor Okpebholo, on his part, called one witness, while the APC presented four witnesses before closing their case.

At the resumed sitting, Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led three-member tribunal reserved judgment for a later date to be communicated to the parties after the petitioners and respondents adopted their final written addresses.

Justice Kpochi stated, “A date for judgment will be communicated to the parties by the secretary of the tribunal. The tribunal stands adjourned until then.”

Earlier, at the commencement of proceedings, the petitioners’ lead counsel, Adetunji Oyeyipo (SAN), informed the tribunal that they were in court to adopt their final written addresses.

The first respondent’s lead counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), adopted INEC’s final address.

While addressing the tribunal, he urged it to dismiss the petition, arguing it lacked merit and that the election results were properly collated.

He asserted that all polling unit agents who testified had signed the result sheets and could not distinguish between what they heard and what they observed.

He further noted that the number of polling unit agents called as witnesses by the petitioners represented an insignificant percentage of the total polling units in the state.



https://punchng.com/edo-poll-pdp-apc-bicker-as-tribunal-adjourns-for-judgment/