The Edo State Election Petition Tribunal on Friday dismissed the petition filed by governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
The Edo tribunal in rejecting Ize-Iyamu’s petition to upturn the verdict of the September 28, 2016 election, also confirmed Mr. Godwin Obaseki as the duly elected governor of the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which declared Obaseki as winner of the election was also dragged before the tribunal by Ize-Iyamu and the PDP.
The Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Ahmed Badamasi, held that the petitioners failed to support their pleadings with evidence as well as abandoned some pleadings in their petition.
The Nation reports that Justice Badamasi also held that many witnesses called by the petitioners were discredited during cross-examination and gave hearsay evidence.
Governor Obaseki and other members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) thereafter took to the streets of the state capital in Benin to celebrate the verdict of the Edo tribunal.