A report has revealed that Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the upcoming Edo 2024 Governorship election, is not registered to vote in the state.
Senator Okpebholo submitted his Form EC9 affidavit on March 5, 2024, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The affidavit, which was subsequently published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), states his full name as Monday Okpebholo and records his birth date as August 29, 1970, in Irrua, Esan Central Local Government.
However, repeated checks on INEC’s official voter verification portal consistently returned a “Voter Not Found” message for Senator Okpebholo.
This indicates that he is not registered to vote in any of the 18 local governments in Edo State, including his home local government of Esan Central.
This discrepancy casts doubt on the authenticity of the voter’s card submitted by Senator Okpebholo to INEC.
Experts say although being registered to vote is not a constitutional requirement for running for Governor or Senator, submitting a potentially forged voter’s card can have serious legal ramifications.
Also, with the termination of the 2024 INEC Continuous Voter Registration process, there is no legal way for Senator Okpebholo or the APC to rectify the issue before the September 21st Governorship elections.
