Edo Poll: Appeal Court to Deliver Ruling Today

 

 

The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin will on Friday deliver judgement on the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, challenging the ruling of the Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal on the September 2016 governorship poll.

 

The PDP and Ize-Iyamu are challenging the judgement of the Justice Ahmed Badamasi-led tribunal which upheld the election of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

 

The tribunal had dismissed the petition for lack of merit. However, the appellants are, among other grounds of appeal, seeking an order setting aside the decision of the tribunal and an order nullifying the election of Obaseki, while declaring Ize-Iyamu as the winner with the highest number of lawful votes cast in the poll.

 

They had in their appeal alleged that the tribunal judges erred and truncated their (appellants) right to fair hearing “by first finding fault, discrediting, disbelieving and dismissing their petition before considering at all and reviewing the testimonies of the witnesses of the respondents and, thus, occasioning a miscarriage of justice.”