Edo 2024 Election Tribunal judgment was written to legitimise a fundamentally compromised judicial and electoral processes. Section 137 of Electoral Act 2022 is about Effect of non-compliance. It is under Part VIII (Determination of Election Petitions arising from Elections) of the Act.
It shall not be necessary for a party who alleges non-compliance with the provisions of this Act for the conduct of elections to call oral evidence if originals or certified true copies manifestly disclose the non-compliance alleged.
Justice Agim held in Oyetola v Adeleke in 2022 that if documents admitted manifestly and apparently show noncompliance, oral evidence may be dispensed with. Edo Election Tribunal has delivered a political judgment which is not based on any electoral law. The judgment was allegedly leaked before the day of judgment which has raised questions about the integrity of the judges. Edo Tribunal poses danger to Nigeria’s fragile democracy. The Tribunal judges ignored credible evidence; dismissed PDP’s petition solely on grounds of technicalities. Nigerian judiciary is not for sale.
The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja on Wednesday affirmed Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the valid winner of the September 21 governorship election. In a unanimous judgment, the three-member panel led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Asuerime Ighodalo. The Tribunal abandoned Section 137 of the Electoral Act 2022 and gave a political verdict in favour of Senator Monday Okphebholo.
The tribunal ruled that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations of over-voting after ignoring PDP evidence and upheld that Okpebholo secured the highest number of valid votes. The tribunal also criticised the manner in which the petitioners presented their evidence, stating that it did not sufficiently support their claims with oral evidence. For judiciary to reject documentary evidence is strange to Nigeria’s electoral laws.
Why will the tribunal judges be asking for oral evidence when the law says otherwise when certified true copies were tendered and accepted by the tribunal in evidence. The tribunal said that the BVAS machines were tendered through the bar and not through anybody and were just sitting dormant as no evidence was led as to its content. It was the Head of INEC ICT Unit that tendered the BVAS at the tribunal.
The judiciary remains the last hope of Nigerians in restoring their confidence in the fragile electoral integrity in Nigeria.The controversies surrounding the Edo 2024 governorship election collation of results underscore a deepening crisis of trust in Nigeria’s electoral system and raise critical questions about the integrity of INEC in 2027 elections.
As the Court of Appeal prepares to address these challenges, Nigeria stands at a pivotal moment. The decisions made by the judiciary will either uphold the sanctity of democracy or further erode public confidence in the nation’s democratic institutions.
The credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process has always been a subject of intense debate. While politicians make grand promises about deepening democracy, the reality is that the judiciary, which should be the last hope of the common man, has not played its part well. The 2015 gubernatorial elections in Akwa Ibom and Rivers States stand as glaring examples of this crisis, where overwhelming evidence of electoral malpractice was ultimately buried at the court.
If democracy is to survive in Nigeria, judicial reforms are non-negotiable. The process of adjudicating election petitions must be reviewed to remove unnecessary legal hurdles that favor incumbents and perpetrators of fraud. Election petitions should focus on the credibility of evidence rather than procedural technicalities.
Inwalomhe Donald writes via inwalomhe.donald@yahoo.com
