The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Edo State, upholding the decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
A five-man panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal held that the appellants – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the September 2024 election, Asue Ighodalo – could not establish their claims of election non-compliance, unlawful votes, and that Okpebholo was not duly elected.
The appeal was dismissed for lacking merit.
Thursday’s verdict came about 11 months after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Okpebholo as the winner of the Edo governorship election.
The then-APC candidate got 291,667 votes, beating Ighodalo, his closest rival, who garnered 247,274 votes.
Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) took a distant third place, managing only 22,763 votes in the fiercely contested election.
However, unsatisfied with the conduct of the exercise, Ighodalo and the PDP took the matter to court, alleging that the election was fraught with irregularities. They asked the court to nullify the poll over allegations of non-compliance with the tenets of the Electoral Act 2022.
In April 2025, the election tribunal said the petitioners failed to prove the allegations against the respondents.
The PDP and Ighodalo took another step, going to the Court of Appeal to challenge that verdict.
Their petition was equally dismissed by a panel of the appellate court, which said their appeal lacked merit.
Okpebholo Extends ‘Olive Branch’ To Ighodalo, Others
Meanwhile, Governor Okpebholo has welcomed the victory at the Supreme Court and has extended a “sincere olive branch to all his opponents and members of the opposition”.
In a statement, Okpebholo’s Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, said, “In the true spirit of statesmanship, Governor Okpebholo extends a sincere olive branch to all his opponents and members of the opposition.
“The elections are over; the real work of governance and healing must begin. He urges political leaders across party lines to rise above division and contribute constructively to the task of building a greater Edo State.”
He said the verdict is not a personal victory for the governor but a shared triumph for every Edo citizen, regardless of political, ethnic, or religious affiliation.
“Edo belongs to all of us. The time has come to set aside our differences, close ranks, and march forward—united in purpose, anchored in peace, and driven by a shared vision of progress,” the statement added.”Let this victory ignite a new era of unity, dialogue, and impact-driven governance”.
‘Deep Sense of Betrayal’
However, Ighodalo has faulted the court’s decision and described it as a betrayal.
In a statement he released after the judgement, the PDP candidate argued that the September election was nothing short of a “deliberate and coordinated robbery”.
“Like you, I feel a deep sense of betrayal. Not just by those who rigged the process, but by the very institutions we trusted to protect our democracy,” the PDP candidate in that election said.
Ighodalo alleged that the governorship election was rigged in favour of the APC.
“What happened in the September 2024 Governorship Election was not a contest. It was a robbery. Coordinated. Deliberate. And now, tragically validated by the highest court in the land,” he alleged.
“While I will not and can not obstruct any judicial pronouncement, no matter how flawed, I must never fear to speak truth to power.”
