The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has opted not to call any witnesses in defence of its actions at the Edo 2024 Governorship Election Tribunal.
This is despite serious allegations of collusion with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the election in favour of Governor Monday Okpebholo.
The move came after INEC’s legal counsel sought to close its case without presenting any witnesses, a request granted by the Tribunal.
The decision leaves the electoral body depending solely on cross-examinations and arguments from the APC and Okpebholo’s legal teams.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has mounted a fierce challenge to the election results, accusing INEC of facilitating widespread irregularities and vote manipulation.
The PDP’s legal team has relied heavily on documentary evidence, in line with the 2022 Electoral Act, which emphasizes the importance of such evidence over oral testimony.
Key sections of the Act—specifically Section 137, which prioritizes documentary over oral evidence, and Section 73(2), which mandates the nullification of results in cases where ballot paper and BVAS serial numbers were not pre-recorded—form the backbone of the PDP’s petition.
The Tribunal has already accepted critical BVAS machines into evidence, devices the PDP believes will expose over-voting and discrepancies in the official results.
Testimonies from PDP witnesses, including local government agents and an expert witness (PW12), have outlined systematic manipulation during result collation.
The claims have also been corroborated by independent monitors such as Athena Centre and TAP Initiative, further undermining INEC’s credibility.
By failing to present witnesses, INEC now finds itself relying on APC and Governor Okpebholo’s legal teams to defend the election results.
Analysts suggest that this could backfire, particularly as INEC must contend with certified records and BVAS data that the PDP argues contradict the declared results.
Recall that the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) had alleged INEC’s complicity in vote inflation for the APC.
Part of the report read: “FIJ has found contradictory evidence that the conduct was flawed before, during and after election day.
“Sources told FIJ that INEC did not have the result of collated ballots for this LGA’s 12 wards but went on to announce a total without them. Emerging victorious here, the APC got 32,107 votes, while the PDP got 17,483 — a whopping gap of 14,624 votes.
“To verify the claim of unavailability of authentic results, FIJ obtained certified true copies of collated results from all LGAs. The CTC INEC provided for Etsako West had two unique features: a conspicuous ‘Replacement Copy’ text printed atop it and no stamp on the bottom right of the page, making it different from all copies from the other 17 LGAs.”
