The Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo and his challenger, Mr Asue Ighodalo will on Thursday, July 10, know their fates as Supreme Court is now set to deliver final judgment in the legal battle on the gubernatorial election dispute.
The decision of the apex court when handed down will put an end to the chains of court cases that followed the legality or otherwise of the election.
Sources at the Supreme Court confirmed on Wednesday, that the judgment of the 5-man panel of Justices who heard the case would be made public on July 10.
Governor Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress, APC, were declared winners of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, last year.
Not satisfied with the declaration, Ighodalo and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, challenged the decision both at the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal and lost, prompting them to move to the Supreme Court.
A five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal which adjudicated over the matter had at the hearing, announced that their judgment delivery date would be communicated to counsel representing parties in the appeal seeking to remove Okpebholo as Governor of Edo State.
It will be recalled that INEC had declared Okpebholo of the APC winner of the September 21, 2024 governorship election, having won majority of the votes cast at the governorship election.
However, Ighodalo who came next to Okpebholo at the polls had disagreed with the electoral umpire, claiming that the body did not comply with the rules guiding the conduct of the poll, and ruled in favour of APC’s Okpebholo.
Besides, he alleged that there were cases of over-voting in several polling units, which when deducted, would show that he and not Okpebholo won the governorship election.
His claims were, however, dismissed by the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal as well as the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the election of Okpebholo.
They had prayed the two courts to nullify the declaration of Okpebholo as the winner on the ground that the election was allegedly marred by irregularities.
The Supreme Court is the final point on any legal matters arising over any dispute in the country.
