The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Benin City has striked out the petition filed by the Action Alliance and Ukonga Onaivi against Governor Godwin Obaseki’s re-election.
The Tribunal dismissed the suit challenging Governor Obaseki’s victory in the September poll in a unanimous ruling delivered on Thursday in Benin City, the state capital.
Justice Chukwudi Nwakwo delivered the ruling in the presence of the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Abdulrazak Abdulkareem, and the third judge, Justice Josephine Ayua.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the platform on which Governor Obaseki sought re-election, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which declared the governor as the winner, were joined as respondents to the petition.
When the case was called, the counsel to the petitioners, Steven Osaigbovo, was not present in court.
In its ruling, the Tribunal held that in the petition against the first and second respondents, the petitioners failed to file the pre-hearing notice.
As a result, it ruled that the petitioners were deemed to have abandoned the petition and, thereafter, dismissed the suit.
Similarly, in the petition against the third respondent, the Tribunal held that the pre-hearing notice was not filed within time by the petitioners.
It, therefore, went ahead to dismiss the petition.
Recall that INEC had issued a returned certificate to Governor Obaseki and Deputy Governor Shaibu elected after they were declared winner the electoral umpire on September 19.
The governor polled 307,955 of the total votes, 84,336 more votes than his closest rival Ize-Iyamu who got 223, 619 votes.