Edo Guber 2024: APC, PDP React to Leaked Judgement as Tribunal Rules Today

• The fake the copies of the purported judgment of the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal have sparked controversies and speculations
• The leaked tribunal judgment flooded the internet on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, barely 24 hours before the tribunal delivers its verdict on Wednesday, April 2, 2025
• Legit.ng reports that the PDP and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, is seeking to nullify the victory of the APC and Governor Monday Okpebholo

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 7 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international

FCT, Abuja - The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (APC) have dismissed the leaked judgement of the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

The APC and PDP both described the leaked judgement as fake copies of the purported tribunal judgment.

The fake copies of the tribunal judgment flooded the internet on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 24 hours to the ruling of the tribunal.

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As reported by The Punch, the leaked judgement indicated that two of the three tribunal justices ruling in favour of Governor Monday Okpebholo, while the third dissented.

According to the document, the chairman of the tribunal Justice Wilfred Kpochi Justice A. B. Yusuf favoured Okpebholo, while Justice A. A. Adewole ruled in favour of Ighodalo.

Justices Kpochi and Yusuf reportedly ruled that the petitioners’ claims of irregularities in the election were not substantial enough to affect the outcome.

The tribunal cited the Supreme Court precedents, that the margin of victory remained unchanged despite observed discrepancies.

However, Justice Adewole insisted that the total valid votes showed Ighodalo polled 243,113 votes against Okpebholo’s 210,326.

Reacting to the leaked judgment, the APC publicity director, Bala Ibrahim, claimed that the PDP leaked a fake judgment, knowing they would lose.

Ibrahim expressed confidence that the ruling party will win today’s judgment.

“Well, for them to accuse the APC of releasing the judgment online, it means they have knowledge of the movement of the judgment beforehand. If you don’t have knowledge about the movement of something, you cannot be able to talk about its direction. So the PDP is supposed to be held responsible for even knowing how judgments move about before they are released, how they get on social media.”

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However, the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, asserted that the tribunal’s proceedings from the beginning indicated that the PDP would emerge victorious.

Osadolor accused the APC of using the leaked fake document to gauge public reaction.

“The APC owns the judgments, they are behind the tribunal judgments that are in circulation. They want to test the waters. I want to put President Tinubu on notice that issues like these are not things he should keep close. He should go and check how the second and third republics all ended and what led to it.”

Edo guber: Tribunal takes action over PDP’s petition

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja reserved its ruling on the PDP and Ighodalo's petition challenging Governor Okpebholo’s victory.

The PDP claimed irregularities in 765 polling units and accused INEC of failing to counter evidence of tampered results, urging the tribunal to annul the election.

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The APC accused PDP supporters of planning to disrupt the tribunal's proceedings, calling on security agencies to prevent any attempts to influence the judgment.

Proofreading by Kola Muhammed, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng