Tribunal dismisses PDP, Igbinedion’s petition in Edo

The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Benin on Sunday dismissed the petition brought before it by Omosede Igbinedion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The petition was challenging the victory of Dennis Idahosa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 election for Ovia Federal Constituency seat.

Igbinedion, a former member of the House of Representatives, who was defeated in the March elections, approached the tribunal seeking the disqualification of Rep. Idahosa on the ground that he was not qualified to have contested the election.

She also prayed the tribunal to return her elected, as the APC candidate never won the majority of the valid votes cast and that the votes allocated to Rep. Idahosa should be discountenanced for non -compliance with the Electoral Act.

According to Igbinedion’s petition, Rep. Idahosa, who was declared winner of the Ovia Federal Constituency seat did not qualify to stand for the election by virtue of holding dual citizenship of Nigeria and Canada.

She also averred that the lawmaker did not resign his appointment with the Federal Ministry of Environment within 30 days before the election was conducted as required by law.

However, the three-man election tribunal in its judgment read by its Chairman, Justice C. Ogundala, struck out the three grounds of petition by Igbinedion, saying that they lack merit.

Justice Ogundala whose judgment took almost three hours to deliver, said Igbinedion failed to prove her case beyond reasonable doubt because the witness called by the petitioner in respect of the allegation of dual citizenship was not the maker of the documents tendered.

According to the judge, since the witness is not the maker of the document he deposed before the tribunal, the tribunal did not attach any probative value to the document tendered.

He said the second and third grounds of the petition which border on allegations such as arbitrary allocation of votes, swooping of figures and over voting are criminal in nature.

However, Ogundala held that since the petitioner is of the view that the voted scored by the second and third respondent were allocated by the first respondent (INEC), the first and second petitioner failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt the allegation of electoral malpractices.

“All these allegations have not in the least being proved by the petitioner not to talk of proving them beyond reasonable doubt.

“The reasons canvassed, therefore, have no merit and are hereby dismissed,” the tribunal declared.