The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the judgment of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, describing it as a miscarriage of justice.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, described the judgment as a betrayal of the trust of the people of Edo in the tribunal.
The PDP candidate, Ighodalo Asue, had challenged the declaration of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC).
However, the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, in its verdict on the disputed gubernatorial poll, affirmed the election of Okpebholo as Governor of the state.
Nonetheless, the opposition party, while insisting that Ighodalo was the winner of the contest, assured the tribunal’s judgment would be challenged in the Court of Appeal.
“It is very disturbing that despite the overwhelming evidence and findings by the Tribunal that the PDP was robbed of its clear victory in the election through manipulations, including wrongful allocation of votes to the All Progressives Congress (APC), arbitrary and illegal cancellation of valid votes won by the PDP, the Election Tribunal contradicted itself by coming to a conclusion that is at variance with its own findings.
“More distressing is that this judgment by the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal constitutes a major threat to the confidence Nigerians have in democracy and adjudication of electoral matters.
“It is instructive to note that democracy can only thrive in an atmosphere of adherence to the rule of law and adjudication of issues which can only be accepted by the people when a tribunal of such nature impartially applies the law, the facts and body of evidence made available to it at proceedings
“However, consistent with PDP’s avowed belief in the capacity of the judiciary to, in appropriate cases, ensure that justice is done, our Party and candidate Dr. Asue Ighodalo are proceeding to the Court of Appeal where we believe that there will be a conscientious judicial review of the matter to give justice to the people of Edo State,” the PDP stated.
