By Frank Irad
Krestnews.com reports that the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has admitted evidence of multiple incidents of over voting in seven polling units in Ovia South West Local Government Area (LGA) during the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
The tribunal led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi at its continuous hearing of the petition brought before it by the PDP candidate Asue Ighodalo, a Peoples Democratic Party witness, who served as the Local Government Collation Agent for Ovia South West, testified that the total number of votes cast exceeded the number of accredited voters in polling units 014, 007, 004, 006, 016, 028, and 034.
According to the report, the witness said the over voting favored the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose deputy governorship candidate, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, hails from the area.
Despite protests by PDP agents at the affected polling units he said, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to cancel the results.
The PDP witness tendered documents that included BVAS accreditation reports, certified true copies (CTC) of result sheets (Form EC8A-C), IREV reports, and BVAS extracts as detailed evidence to support the claims.
Under cross-examination, the witness disclosed that INEC’s presiding officers ignored complaints raised by PDP agents.
While counsels to the first respondent (INEC) and the second respondent (Okpebholo) objected to admitting the witness’s statement on oath, the tribunal overruled the objections and admitted the evidence.
Meanwhile, hearing continues as more PDP witnesses are scheduled to testify.(www.krestnews.com).