•expresses confidence of APC victory
Edo State deputy governor, Dennis Idahosa, has said that the claims of over-voting in the September 21, 2024 governorship election by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would not hold water before the Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Idahosa who spoke in Benin shortly after the Monday sitting of the tribunal expressed surprise that the PDP could file petitions without verifying it’s facts.
This was just as he stated that the results of the areas where the opposite PDP claimed there were cases of over-voting had been cancelled before the final computation of the final results of the election that gave victory to the Governor Monday Okpebholo’s All Progressives Congress (APC).
The cancellation Of those areas’s results, Iddahosa further intoned, had made the claims by the PDP baseless.
The Edo State deputy governor, while buttressing his assertions, said that: “In Unit 4, Ward 7, Usen, (Ovia South-West Local Government Area), the results were cancelled due to over-voting, as required by law. Yet, PDP petitioned against these results without knowing they were never included in the final tally.”
He pointed out that the APC witness confirmed in court that cancelled results were not computed. “Why would PDP challenge results that do not exist? It shows they do not understand the process,” Idahosa reiterated.
According to him, the Electoral Act 2020 (as amended) clearly states that over-voting leads to automatic result cancellation, eliminating the need for further disputes.
“The onus is on PDP to prove their case, but their witnesses have contradicted themselves in court. Our legal team may not even need to call any witness,” he boasted.
He further expressed dismay that the PDP was treating the tribunal like a media campaign, rather than focusing on legal facts.
Idahosa, who maintained that the PDP case lacked merit, expressed confidence in the judiciary to uphold the law.
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