The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, has asserted that the party is poised for success at the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja, attributing this confidence to the robust nature of their petition and the qualifications of their witnesses.
Speaking in Benin yesterday, he noted that the PDP’s petition contesting the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, on September 21, 2024, is unparalleled and distinct from the typical petitions seen in Nigeria.
Aziegbemi stated, “I am assured that the tribunal will recognize PDP and its governorship candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, as the legitimate winners of the election, due to the substantial evidence we have provided.”
“In the petition, we did not plead financial inducement or ballot box snatching that will be difficult to prove. We focused on over-voting.
“If the law says where the number of votes cast is more than the number of accredited voters, and such is authenticated by the BVAS extract, it means the unit’s result must be cancelled because of over voting. These are things you can place your fingers on and say if it happened and you can prove that it happened, and you have documents to show that it happened, because INEC certified all the documents for us. That is where our confidence stems from. This is why our petition is unique.
“The only witness by Okpebholo at the tribunal’s sitting on Monday admitted that there was over-voting in his Ovia Southwest Local Government of Edo State. We used him to authenticate what we have been saying that there was over-voting in 133 polling units in the local government.’’
Edo PDP chairman urged the teeming members of the party to remain calm and law-abiding, while being confident of victory at the tribunal.
The sitting of the Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led three-member tribunal will continue today.