*“Edo Tribunal Turned Law on Its Head,” Says PDP as Party Heads to Appeal Court*
- _US faults Edo election, may impose visa restrictions on officials found culpable_
The Peoples Democratic Party has rejected the judgment of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, describing it as a miscarriage of justice that ignored overwhelming facts, twisted the law, and rewarded impunity.
Having received and studied the Certified True Copy of the judgment, the petitioners say they are now even more convinced that the Tribunal turned the law on its head to protect a rigged process. According to the PDP, the Tribunal abandoned its constitutional duty to deliver justice and instead constituted itself into a “_fourth respondent_,” inventing technicalities to sidestep the clear evidence of electoral malpractice placed before it.
“We have studied the CTC of the judgement. This judgment, with due respect to the judges involved, is a travesty. But we are not deterred. We are proceeding to the Court of Appeal with the facts, the law, and the will of the Edo people firmly on our side,” said Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, PDP Chairman in Edo State.
The PDP’s petition accused INEC of rigging the election in favour of the APC by refusing to comply with its own guidelines and by collating manipulated results across the state. According to the petition, Barrister Asue Ighodalo scored the majority of lawful votes and should have been declared the winner.
“People do not grasp the gravity of what happened in Edo,” said Barrister Anthony Ehilebo, Special Adviser on Media to Mr. Ighodalo. “Tap Initiative uncovered what was effectively an electoral coup. INEC printed a duplicate set of result sheets and used these fake documents to declare their preferred candidate. The irony is that the real results are still available to be viewed on INEC’s own IRev portal as we speak! Tap has reported this to the ICPC and called for the prosecution of the officials involved. INEC also failed to fill forms essential for guaranteeing the integrity of the elections; a responsibility the Supreme Court has said is a strict liability issue. That is what the Tribunal has now endorsed. We are duty-bound to challenge this travesty at the appellate court.”
This allegation was supported by a forensic audit published by Tap Initiative, which revealed substantial irregularities in INEC’s certified result sheets. The report found that many of the results appeared to have been filled in by a single individual rather than by different presiding officers across polling units.
A broad coalition of civil society groups and international observers have echoed these concerns. The Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership revealed how INEC’s digital infrastructure was compromised, enabling manipulation of result uploads. Yiaga Africa, in its post-election statement, cited “serious lapses in the collation process.” The Foundation for Investigative Journalism went even further, describing the election as having been “rigged for the APC by design.”
These reports appear to have found an audience in the international community. In an unusually pointed statement, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria confirmed it is following the appeal process closely, particularly in light of civil society concerns over the integrity of the vote. The Mission emphasized that transparency and due process are essential to democratic legitimacy; a signal, many observers believe, of disapproval with the Tribunal’s ruling.
Diplomatic sources suggest visa bans may be imposed on individuals implicated in undermining the electoral process or the judicial system’s role in addressing it.
Despite the ruling, the PDP maintains that the mandate of the people remains with Asue Ighodalo.
Senator Monday Okpebholo, in a public statement, extended what he described as an olive branch to his rival, calling on Ighodalo “to join hands in unity and work together for the progress of Edo State.”
But the PDP remains unmoved.
“The issue of an olive branch is premature,” said Goodluck Osaretin, a PDP stalwart. “We are talking about retrieving a stolen mandate. There can be no peace without justice.”
“Asue is coming,” Osaretin added. “Just like the governors of Zamfara, Plateau, Osun, Kano and Bayelsa who lost at the Tribunal but reclaimed their mandates at the Supreme Court, we are confident that no Tribunal, no matter how composed or compromised, can stop the will of the people.”
Edo Tribunal Turned Law On Its Head, Says PDP