The Edo Governorship Election Tribunal in Abuja took testimonies from a star witness for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who opened up on irregularities in the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s declaration of Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the governorship election.
Citing Section 2.3.6 of INEC’s Manual for Election Officials, the expert, Oseyili Anenih, on Tuesday, highlighted that INEC’s failure to record the serial numbers of sensitive election materials in Form EC25B violated its own regulations. This rendered results from 320 polling units invalid.
Anenih said the September 21, 2024, gubernatorial polls were marred by irregularities.
At the resumed hearing, moved from the Edo State capital, Benin City, to Abuja, Anenih, PDP’s star witness and Director of Research and Strategy, testified before the tribunal.
Under cross-examination by INEC counsel, Kanu Agabi, Anenih alleged widespread irregularities in 765 polling units.
He told the tribunal that PDP and Ighodalo were challenging the results from these units, which represent 16.7 percent of the total 4,519 polling units in Edo State.
When APC’s lawyer falsely claimed INEC uploaded all polling unit results to the IReV portal, the witness responded, “That is patently false, my Lord. INEC uploaded only 4,466 of 4,519 polling unit results, failing to upload 53. Your statement is incorrect.”
As respondents attempted to discredit the witness for not being physically present at polling units, he swiftly retorted: “My Lord, counsel earlier referenced 16 agent polling unit results, noting that 3 were not stamped. Counsel wasn’t at any polling unit either, yet his review revealed inconsistencies. Similarly, my findings are based on a forensic examination of documents, which clearly show over-voting, unfilled mandatory forms, and improperly collated results in 765 polling units.”
In a moment that left opposing lawyers visibly unsettled, the witness declared: “My Lord, Barr. Ighodalo won the election. This fact is available to anyone with access to the documents.”
The tribunal adjourned to January 30th.
