Sam Amadi Slams Edo Tribunal Ruling, Warns Against Democratic Collapse

The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, led by Dr Sam Amadi, has faulted the April 2, 2025, judgment of the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal

During a press briefing held in Abuja on Monday, Amadi argued that the ruling not only undermines Nigeria’s fragile democracy but signals a bleak future for credible elections in the country.

He said the think-tank’s continued focus on the Edo 2024 Governorship election “is not because electoral malpractices have occurred only in Edo or because we care about any one of the candidates.”

The think-tank of scholars and policy professionals said, “The atrocities in that election are barometers to measure the progress, or lack of it, in our journey towards credible elections that can overcome the growing tendency towards autocracy and instability in Nigeria.”

It accused election officials of colluding with desperate politicians to subvert the will of the people at the polls.

“Evidence of independent poll watchers is that the declaration was fraudulently made with result sheets that were not the ones used at the polling units. INEC allegedly printed two different result sheets and used one to declare results unrelated to the real results uploaded to its result viewing portal,” TAS alleged

The think-tank cited Section 73(2) of the Electoral Act, which mandates the recording of serial numbers of all sensitive materials, including BVAS machines and result sheets, before voting begins.

“Failure to do so renders the election in that polling unit automatically void,” it stressed.

“At polling units, the APC would score 31 votes, as posted on the IRev. But in the declared result certified by INEC, you would see the votes recorded for APC as 431,” the School pointed out, calling it “the most atrocious rigging.”

The tribunal had rejected evidence tendered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including documents and extracts from BVAS machines allegedly used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prove their allegation of election malpractice.

It faulted the PDP for “dumping” the BVAS machines before the tribunal without calling competent witnesses to turn them on and demonstrate its claims of overvoting.

But the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought said it found the tribunal’s ruling indefensible and dangerous, noting that “the irony is that it was the court that ordered INEC to tender the BVAS machines. Why did the court not mandate INEC to operate the machines before the court? Why should INEC’s errors of failure be to the detriment of the victim of its manipulation?”

It accused the tribunal of legitimizing the alleged hijack of the constitutional right of citizens to elect their leaders, staying, “They have allowed INEC to hijack the constitutionally protected power of the citizens to elect their leaders; and have endorsed the deployment of a system that allows INEC handpick winners of electoral contests without recourse to the will of the people.”

It warned that if this is allowed to stand, “2027 and all other elections will be farcical, impotent rituals used by the ruling class to give the unilateral appointment of political officeholders the imprimatur of democratic responsibility.”

While calling for urgent reforms, the Abuja School argued that the survival of Nigeria’s democracy depends on an electoral process that assures citizens that their votes can change governments.

“So far, the Nigerian electoral system lacks the rudimentary credibility to sustain public faith in it. The electoral management body, INEC, has been the chief destroyer of the credibility of elections in Nigeria,” it asserted.

THE WHISTLER reported that the tribunal on April 2 affirmed Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected Governor of Edo State.

The three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed the petition filed by the PDP and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, which challenged the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.

Justice Kpochi, who delivered the lead judgment, stressed that non-compliance at the poll must be established, adding that the PDP’s failure to call polling unit officials, presiding officers, or voters to testify undermined their case.

The tribunal further criticised the PDP’s reliance on documentary evidence without proper oral testimony, rejecting what it described as the party’s attempt to “dump documents” on the court.

It ruled that it was not the responsibility of the tribunal to scrutinise or extract facts from documents presented without adequate witnesses.

In a unanimous decision, the panel reaffirmed that to substantiate claims of overvoting, the petitioners needed to tender a combination of voters’ registers, the BVAS accreditation records, and certified polling unit results (Forms EC8A).

INEC had declared that Senator Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo with 247,655 votes.

Sam Amadi Slams Edo Tribunal Ruling, Warns Against Democratic Collapse is first published on The Whistler Newspaper