Mixed Reactions Trail US Mission Comment on Edo Guber Tribunal Verdict

*PDP says tribunal turned law on its head to protect a rigged process 

Alex Enumah in Abuja 

The comment of the United States Mission in Nigeria, on the Edo State Governorship Tribunal, which awarded victory to Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has elicited different reactions from groups and individuals in the country.

While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) welcomed the comment, describing it as a confirmation of the imperfections of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, a civil society group, which rose in defence of the tribunal, warned that foreign bodies should desist from interfering with local politics in Nigeria.

Mr Anthony Ehilebo, Special Adviser on Media to PDP’s governorship candidate, Mr Asue Ighodalo, said, “People do not grasp the gravity of what happened in Edo.” 

He recalled that, “TAP Initiative uncovered what was effectively an electoral coup. INEC printed a duplicate set of result sheets and used these fake documents to declare their preferred candidate.”

He submitted that besides TAP Initiative, a broad coalition of civil society groups and international observers had also echoed similar concerns, adding that, “These reports appear to have found an audience in the international community.”

The US Mission, a few days after the tribunal affirmed the election of Okpebholo as Edo State Governor, confirmed that it was following the appeal process closely, particularly in light of civil society concerns over the integrity of the vote. 

“The Mission emphasised that transparency and due process are essential to democratic legitimacy; a signal, many observers believe, of disapproval with the Tribunal’s ruling,” he said.

The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, had while reacting to the 2024 Edo and Ondo Governorship Election BIP Report in a statement posted on the US Mission Nigeria X handle (@USinNigeria), stated his opinion.

“The U.S. Mission in Nigeria is following the Edo election appeal process closely, particularly given civil society’s concerns about critical issues related to the election, such as ‘serious lapses in the collation process’ that were observed,” he said.

The 2024 Edo and Ondo Governorship Election BIP Report, conducted by Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), revealed significant discrepancies in the electoral process. 

According to the report, one of the key findings was the persistent mismatch in the number of registered voters across multiple polling units.

While the report claimed that in Edo State, inconsistencies were found in 141 polling units, in Ondo State, the same issue was observed in 87 polling units. 

The discrepancies were said to have extended to the final collation centres, where the total number of registered voters recorded differed significantly from INEC’s pre-election figures.

But a civil society group under the aegis of Coalition for Good Governance and Economic Justice in Africa, has faulted the position of the US mission in Nigeria on the Edo tribunal, pointing out that the mission has no role to play in Nigeria’s judiciary or even in the country’s local politics. 

Country Director of the coalition, Mr. John Mayaki, while commending journalists for their unbiased reportage of the tribunal’s proceedings, called for the protection of the country’s institutions, adding that the Edo governorship tribunal adjudicated to its best ability on what was presented before it.

While describing as “shocking” the statement by the US that “they are watching the appeal closely”, Mayaki stressed that, “there should be a limit to everything” and advised the PDP not to be “carried away with what the international community says about our local politics because they are not the judiciary.”

Also, the Edo chairman of the PDP,  Tony Aziegbemi, has described the tribunal judgment as a miscarriage of justice, arguing that the panel ignored overwhelming facts, twisted the law, and rewarded impunity.

Having received and studied the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment, the petitioners said they were now even more convinced that the tribunal turned the law on its head to protect a rigged process. 

Aziegbemi accused the tribunal of abandoning its constitutional duty of delivering justice and instead constituted itself into a “fourth respondent”, inventing technicalities to sidestep the clear evidence of electoral malpractice placed before it.

“We have studied the CTC of the judgement. This judgment, with due respect to the judges involved, is a travesty. But we are not deterred. We are proceeding to the Court of Appeal with the facts, the law, and the will of the Edo people firmly on our side,” the chairman said.