Issues as tribunal deletes Ighodalo’s petition, affirms Okpebholo’s election By John Mayaki

Issues as tribunal deletes Ighodalo’s petition, affirms Okpebholo’s election 

By John Mayaki 

I have been justified - the tribunal endorsed all my reports and commentaries on its sittings and all the points I raised about the faultiness of Asue Ighodalo’s case has formally come to pass. And, the case was subsequently deleted. 

The tribunal cited lack of competent witnesses and insufficient evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractices - I told them but dem no hear. 

The tribunal also had reasons to delete Ighodalo’s petition when it found that while the documents he submitted could be admitted in evidence but Ighodalo failed to present witnesses to properly authenticate them and that of course, rendered the evidence worthless. 

You want to know more reasons why the tribunal deleted Ighodalo’s petition? Here’s it - of the 19 witnesses presented by Ighodalo, 14 were ward and local government agents, while their star witness, who claimed to be a director of strategy, played no direct role in the conduct of the election. The tribunal said none of these witnesses provided testimony on the alleged failure of prior recording of electoral materials and as such, they are deemed incompetent to testify on the matter. I said so, but dem no wan hear. 

Furthermore, the tribunal said for allegations of over-voting to be proven, Ighodalo must provide oral evidence and that this must be in line with the precedent set by the Supreme Court’s roadmap in adjudicating election disputes. Again, I told them but these itching ears refused to hear. 

In addition, the tribunal observed that the witnesses called by Ighodalo had no direct knowledge of events at the polling units, as they were not physically present during the election. It held that Ighodalo should have called eyewitnesses with firsthand accounts but he failed. I told them but dem no wan hear. 

Now, based on their findings, the tribunal ruled that Ighodalo failed to meet the required burden of proof - it subsequently deleted Ighodalo’s petition and upheld the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the governor of Edo state. 

Congratulations to the Executive Governor of Edo State, His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo.