Senator Monday Okpebholo, the governor of Edo State, and his opponent, Mr. Asue Ighodalo, will find out their fates on Thursday, July 10, as the Supreme Court is scheduled to issue a definitive ruling in the legal struggle over the disputed gubernatorial election.
When the Supreme judicial renders its decision, it will finish the series of judicial cases that followed the election’s validity or lack thereof.
The ruling of the five-member Supreme Court panel that heard the case will be released on July 10th, according to sources at the court said Wednesday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, announced last year that Governor Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress, or APC, had won the election.
Ighodalo and the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, were not happy with the declaration and appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court after losing their challenges in the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
At the hearing, a five-member panel of the highest court, presided over by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal, declared that the parties’ attorneys would be notified of the date of the decision delivery. The appeal aimed to remove Okpebholo from his position as governor of Edo State.
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.
However, the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal rejected his arguments, upholding Okpebholo’s election.
On the grounds that there were alleged anomalies in the election, they had asked the two courts to declare Okpebholo the winner invalid.
The Supreme Court has the last say in all legal issues pertaining to national disputes.
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