The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last September’s governorship election in Edo State, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, on Monday, appeared at the state governorship election petition tribunal in the premises of the state High Court, along Sapele Road, Benin City, with his team of lawyers in a bid to prove that he won the election.
He was accompanied by the state PDP Caretaker Committee Chairman, Hon. Tony Aziegbemi and other party chieftains and supporters.
At the inaugural sitting, tribunal chairman Justice Wilfred Kpochi solicited the cooperation of all stakeholders, including political parties, supporters, counsels, security agencies and the media, in order to have a successful outing.
Ighodalo had promptly rejected the results of the election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the day after the election, and subsequently filed a petition at the tribunal challenging the electoral umpire’s decision.
INEC announced the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Monday Okpebholo, as winner of the election with 291,667 votes as against 247, 274 votes for Ighodalo to place second.
Other parties challenging the result of the election include the Accord Party (AC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Justice Kpochi, who was flanked by the other two members of the panel of judges, Justice A. B. Yusuf and Justice A. A. Adewole, also urged the counsels to the parties not to engage in unnecessary arguments that could lead to a shouting match. He craved for the continuation of the serene and conducive atmosphere within the precinct of the tribunal.
“I am impressed by the conducive and calm environment I am seeing and going forward. I will want this to continue. I appeal to you all that let us put our eyes on the ball so that we can have serene proceedings.
“You have SANs (Senior Advocates of Nigeria) and very senior lawyers here. Nobody is going to shout at you; please don’t also shout at us. If there are areas you feel not comfortable about, please draw our attention to it”.
One of the lead counsels for Ighodalo, Ken Mozia (SAN) pledged his team’s commitment to the proceedings, as far as other parties would do the same, adding that: “We will do our best to represent our client and we have admonished his supporters to be civil and not to even be in the court premises and we will do our best to cooperate with you”.
Okpebholo’s lead counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) said that his colleagues and himself were ready to cooperate with the panel and other parties in the suits to ensure a smooth exercise. “We sue for understanding and pledge to work together. We have done cases; we have also done cases against each other. So we know ourselves and we will give our maximum cooperation for this”, he assured.
The tribunal adjourned till Wednesday, 18 December, in continuation of the pre-hearing sitting when, according to Justice Kpochi, all the parties would have completed all preliminary actions and also agree on a pattern of hearing when the proper sitting commences.
