In a very unfortunate incident, gunshots disrupted the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which began hearing on Wednesday in Benin City, the state capital.
Thugs were reportedly seen outside the turbocharged venue of the tribunal as gunshots rent the air and people were left scrambling for safety.
The tribunal had begun hearing petitions challenging the Edo governorship election on September 21, 2024, in which Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was proclaimed the winner. The Peoples Democratic Party’s Asue Ighodalo is the principal challenger at the tribunal.
The electoral umpire INEC had declared Okpebholo the winner of the poll with 291,667 votes. Ighodalo was said to have polled 247,274 votes, while Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came a distant third in the race with 22,763 votes.
Meanwhile, in the South-South state, the PDP and the APC have clashed over the gunshot incident at the judiciary.
Emperor Jarret Tenebe, the APC chairman in the state, claimed that the “disturbing and unacceptable” incident was carried out by PDP members.
He stated, “The Tribunal is a sacred space where justice is supposed to be administered impartially.” Any act of violence within its walls undermines the very premise of our legal system and jeopardises the safety of everyone concerned.
“Regardless of political affiliation, using violence to settle disputes is never justified. We must all strongly denounce such actions.
“Violence has no place in a civilised society, and those responsible for this heinous act must be brought to justice swiftly and without exception.”
However, the Chairman of the Edo PDP Caretaker Committee, Anthony Aziegbemi, refuted the claims of the APC, accusing the party of sponsoring thugs to disrupt the tribunal.
Aziegbemi said, “The APC is clearly scared of justice and has continued their devious ploy to frustrate our party, from reclaiming the mandate duly given to us by the good people of Edo State in the last governorship election at the Tribunal, and have now resorted to deploying thugs disguised in PDP-branded attire to disrupt the legal process while pointing accusing fingers at our party.
“We strongly dissociate ourselves from the shooting incident that occurred today at the venue of the Governorship Election Tribunal in Benin City, the Edo State capital, and want to unequivocally state that this shameful incident is yet another in the series of clandestine efforts by the APC to frustrate the legal process and tarnish the image of our party.”
