By Ehichioya Ezomon

Monday, January 13, 2025, is a day of reckoning for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its candidate in the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, Dr Asue Ighodalo. On that date, the party is expected to begin the process of proving that Ighodalo, and not Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the poll.
The PDP’s made all the claims, leveled all the allegations, and may’ve successfully pled its petition before the court of public opinion. But it’s no longer time for rhethoric, as reality has set in at the Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal holding in Benin City, where the party must replace claims with facts, allegations with evidence, emotions with reasoning, and equivocation with clarity.
The PDP will open the legal fireworks to convince the three-member tribunal – looking into separate petitions filed by the PDP and six other parties that participated in the election – that the APC, in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Police, “stole” Ighodalo’s victory and handed it over to Okpebholo (APC, Edo Central).
The PDP had claimed – pre-declaration of results by the INEC on September 22, 2024 – that Ighodalo, a Lagos-based Lawyer and business tycoon, outrightly won the poll, but that the APC and the Police pressured the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Anugbum Onuoha, to manipulate the collated figures in favour of Okpebholo.
The PDP also alleged that INEC’s approval of Okpebholo as winner of the election confirmed its charge that the party’s votes were suppressed in several councils, while those of the APC were inflated to give Okpebholo the edge over Ighodalo at the state collation centre in Benin City where the INEC made the final returns on the poll.
Going by INEC’s tally, Okpebholo won the ballot in 11 councils, scoring 291,667 votes, to defeat Ighodalo, who won in seven councils, and polled 247,274 votes to place second. With a margin of lead of 44,393 votes, the INEC declared Okpebholo as Governor-elect and his running mate, Hon. Dennis Idahosa (APC, Ovia Federal Constituency), as Deputy Governor-elect.
Prior to that declaration, Adamawa State Governor Umar Fintiri, who led a delegation of the PDP governors to monitor the election, called for INEC’s postponement of announcement of the results, for a review of the reported rigging by the APC.
The only reason INEC can’t declare a winner is if the election is inconclusive by virtue of none of the parties meeting the legal requirements for a decisive win, or the process was substantially flawed that the commission needs to review the outcome within seven days allowed by the electoral laws before taking a definitive action.
However, on September 27, iterating that the PDP won the poll – and it’d be proved in court – Ighodalo, in an interview on Channels TV’s ‘Politics Today’, as reported by Daily Trust, laid out his case, accusing the INEC and the police of robbing him of his “mandate.”
Ighodalo said: “There was a collusion between the INEC and the police to suppress the will of the people of Edo State. People of Edo State purposely voted for us (PDP). We won the election clearly… But we have serious collusion by INEC and the APC working towards votes not counting.
“But this time around, we will go through the judicial process and the vote will count. We are quite clear that with the evidence we have, we will show clearly that we won the election. And the mandate of the people will be upheld.”
Exonerating the PDP from vote-buying, Ighodalo added: “We were not involved in vote buying at all. APC agents came with minted notes straight from the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria); they were offering N20,000, N30,000 and N50,000 per vote. Our guys went to them and told them, ‘you can’t come here to buy votes.'”
To “retrieve” their alleged “stolen mandate,” the PDP and Ighodalo need to prove – “beyond all reasonable doubts,” and “in substantial compliance” with the relevant electoral laws – their weighty allegations of disenfranchisement of voters; suppression of votes; over-voting; vote-buying; manipulation of the process; and connivance of the APC, the INEC and the Police to flip Ighodalo’s “victory” for Okpebholo.
Above all, the PDP and Ighodalo must show how they won the votes in each of the polling units, wards and councils in contention, and how the total votes they claim they scored are the authentic figures, and a true reflection of the votes Edo people cast on September 21, and not the figures that the INEC declared for the parties on September 22.
Certainly, the opportune moment begins on January 13 for the PDP and Ighodalo to adduce impeccable and impeachable evidence before the three-man panel of Justices Wilfred Kpochi A.B. Yusuf and A.A. Adewole, to prove the allegations contained in their petitions.
With the conclusion of pre-hearing formalities on Saturday, December 21, 2024, and the sitting for the hearing proper adjourned to January 13, the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Kpochi, has revealed that 290 witnesses are expected to testify for and against the outcome of the election that returned Okpebholo as Governor of Edo State.
Noting that the parties agreed to call a total of 290 witnesses, Justice Kpochi, as reported by Vanguard, said the adopted pre-hearing report outlined the timeframe for the examination of witnesses, with 40 minutes allocated for examination-in-chief for each star witness, 30 minutes for cross-examination by the petitioners, and 20 minutes for cross-examination by each respondent.
Other agreements include the allocation of 10 minutes for re-examination of each star witness and 25 minutes for examination-in-chief for other witnesses, with the petitioners expected to call their witnesses within 21 days or less, and the respondents have 10 days each to call their witnesses.
While the tribunal will sit daily from 10 a.m., except on Sundays and other public holidays gazetted by law, there shall be no consolidation of petitions, as there was no application in respect thereof, and no amendment of such shall be entertained during the proceedings.
According to Justice Kpochi, the parties agreed to call only witnesses whose statements on oath had been frontloaded (filed upfront to be issued at trial), and may call subpoenaed witnesses where necessary, adding that, “there shall be an interpreter for some witnesses from English to any native language like Benin, Esan, Auchi dialects and vice versa.”
Snippets of what to expect during the proceedings were on display on December 18 when counsel to the APC, Ferdinand Orbih (SAN), sought dismissal of the PDP and Ighodalo’s petition as “incompetent, and not filed in accordance with the extant law,” as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Noting that further grounds for seeking the dismissal of the petition are contained in the motion paper dated November 30, and supported by a seven-paragraph affidavit, Orbih also prayed for expunging of some paragraphs of the petition, and urged the tribunal to rule on the motion before it commenced hearing into the petition, even as he asked the tribunal to hands-off the petition for lack of jurisdiction.
Countering the APC, Ken Mozia (SAN), one of the lead counsel for Ighodalo – who’d also moved four different motions, for the tribunal to expunge various paragraphs in the replies of INEC, APC and Okpebholo to PDP’s petition – urged the tribunal to discountenance the APC submission, as the PDP had filed a reply and counter-affidavit to challenge APC’s motion, which he sought its dismissal for lack of merit.
Justice Kpochi, however, discountenanced the arguments of the APC counsel, declaring that rulings on all preliminary motions would be delivered on the day of the final judgment.
Amid blackmail, intimidation and threats – and with “all eyes on the tribunal” to see if it’ll appropriately “dispense justice without fear or favour,” Justice Kpochi, following the December 9 pre-hearing, had asked all stakeholders, including political parties, parties in the suit, their supporters, counsel, security agencies, and the media to cooperate for a smooth and successful hearing.
He appealed to counsel to show utmost restraints, and not to engage in unnecessary arguments that could lead to shouting, and jeopardising the convenient atmosphere during the tribunal proceedings. “I am impressed by the conducive and calm environment I am seeing, and going forward, I will want this to continue,” Justice Kpochi said.
“I appeal to you all to let us put our eyes on the ball so that we can have serene proceedings. You have SANs (Senior Advocates of Nigeria) and very senior lawyers here, nobody is going to shout at you, (and) please don’t also shout at us. If there are areas you feel not comfortable about, please draw our attention to it.”
As Mozia (SAN) pledged the commitment of the counsel to the proceedings, “as long as other parties would do the same,” it’s hoped, too, that security operatives will check further incursions by armed thugs into the tribunal premises, injuring party supporters and lawyers, and overshadowing proceedings of the pre-hearings.
There must be a conducive environment – both inside and outside the tribunal – for the petitions to be heard and concluded within the timeframe of six months (180 days) mandated by the laws guiding elections in Nigeria. So, let the legal – and not the thuggery – fireworks begin!

Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria. Can be reached on X, Threads, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp @EhichioyaEzomon. Tel: 08033078357._

By Ehichioya Ezomon

There’s a resurgence of “false or fake” reports of death of prominent Nigerians spurned by the mischievous for inexplicable reasons. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, are among the latest victims of repeated reports of their deaths by mongers.
The canny thing about these reports is that they come mostly towards or at the end of the year, in November and December. Is it that the creators and spreaders of such rumours don’t want the affected to live into the New Year, or it’s mere coincidence that the news often appears at the twilight of the year?
The most (in)famous “false death” reports in Nigeria came in early November 1989 when news broke that the first President of Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Owelle of Onitsha, had passed away. He’s then 85.
Nigerians and members of the global community were shocked and saddened, such that many – even his kindred Igbo, friends and political associates – took the news on its face value, and began sending condolences to the Azikiwe family, and the Government and people of Nigeria, and making arrangements for a state burial for him.
But alas, the “Great Zik of Africa” was “alive, hale and hearty,” and unprepared yet to leave the world! He said so unmistakably by wishing the purveyors the death they’d wished him. Indeed, some of those emergency mourners and “arrangers” of Zik’s funeral died before he finally departed at 91 on May 11, 1996.
Prof. Olatunji Dare, a respected communication scholar, teacher, author, satirist, columnist and editorialist, is the first awardee of First Class in Mass Communication of the University of Lagos in 1973. A Professor of Communication, Emeritus, of the Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, USA, and a recipient of multiple Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards, he’s a journalism great, and among the best craftmen in the profession. He served as chair of The Guardian Editorial Board and Editorial Page Editor, and was one of the “intellectual editors” that moulded The Guardian into its mantra of “The Flagship of Nigerian Press”. The Editorial Adviser of The Nation since its inception, Dare recalled the media faux pas on Dr Azikiwe, in vivid prose, in a piece, “The day Zik didn’t die,” published in The Nation on November 8, 2016 (as excerpted below).
According to Dare, “Rumours of Zik’s death started swirling on Wednesday, November 8, 1989, apparently triggered by enquiries from a BBC correspondent about his condition. By Friday, the rumours had gained so much traction that two newspapers published speculations about his death.
“If any doubts lingered about Zik’s condition, they were dissolved by the newscast the NTA beamed to its fabled 30 million viewers the following night, almost one-half of it a moving depiction of Zik’s life and times. The newscast, a marvelous production featuring footage and archival material that captured Zik’s illustrious career, as well as moving tributes by those who knew him well, plunged the country into mourning.
“By Saturday, November 11, virtually every newspaper had the story of Zik’s reported death as front-page lead, in type size and headline vocabulary that sought to do justice to the great man’s memory. Even those newspapers that left some room for doubt still felt obliged to refer to Zik in the past tense. The obituaries were adulatory, as indeed they should be.
“At the convocation of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, in Kuru, near Jos, the assembled dignitaries reportedly observed a moment of silence in honour of Zik’s memory.
“The whole thing had begun with a ‘letter of condolence’ that Dr Kingsley Mbadiwe had sent with accustomed magniloquence to the Federal Government on the ‘passing’ of Zik. For good measure, he also sent a copy to the NTA. That letter, plus a statement issued on behalf of the ‘National Committee for the Transition of Dr Azikiwe’ by four prominent Nigerians, was all the NTA had relied on for its categorical pronouncement on so weighty a matter.
“Out-of-work politicians saw an opening and moved in swiftly. A First Republic legislator and former stalwart of the Zikist Movement, Chief RBK Okafor, panting as if he had sprinted all the way from Nsukka to Rutam House in Lagos, narrated breathlessly how he had cradled his “beloved Zik” in his arms and how, even as his life ebbed, the great nationalist had said to him: “Chief RBK Okafor, my political son, remember that I am a Pan-Africanist and should be given a Pan-African burial,” or words to that effect.
“When the tale appeared in cold print, Okafor denied it vehemently. He forgot that Ebube Wadibia, The Guardian’s resourceful and street-smart news editor, had caught him on audiotape word for word. It turned out that Okafor had not seen Zik in several years.
“Nor were desperate politicos the only groups with eyes on the main chance. At the airport lounge in Lagos, a person claiming to be a doctor told a Newswatch executive with critical solemnity that he had just come away from performing the autopsy on Zik and signing the death certificate. That disclosure won him instant celebrity.
“By lunchtime on Saturday November 11, reports of Zik’s death had fallen apart. Television network news on Saturday showed Zik alive and well in his living room talking with Colonel Robert Akonobi, the military governor of Anambra State and a team of journalists.
“Zik, it turned out, had been watching the newscast at his home in Nsukka with his vivacious wife Uche, thinking that it was his birthday tribute until he heard, ‘And may his great soul rest in peace.’
“What went wrong? Dr Azikiwe was of course not the most accessible of eminent Nigerians. Still, how was it that, for more than 36 hours, the entire news media and the government’s information machinery and the security apparatus could not establish his condition?
“Zik-gate (which Dare says was ‘invented’ by Eluem Emeka Izeze, ex-Editor, Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of The Guardian) showed how narrowly the news media cast their net and how vulnerable they were. It was as if they had resolved not to let the facts get in the way of a ‘good’ story. If they had checked and re-checked, they would have saved themselves a shameful outing that they will never quite live down.
“And if a government obsessed with ‘national security’ had swung into action with all the resources at its disposal as the rumours spread, a national embarrassment would have been averted.”
Rounding off the beautiful article on the media failure on Dr Azikiwe, Dr Dare asked: Can Zik-gate happen today? And he answered in the negative, as “there are far more news sources, and the media have become more enterprising and sophisticated.”
But that’s before the age of social media in our clime! Because of the bitter lessons learned from the Zik episode, the media, for a while, appeared to self-censor from rushing to publish unverified news about the death of prominent Nigerians. It wasn’t that there weren’t false news about such occurrences, but they’re few and far apart.
On December 31, 2010, Obasanjo quoted one of his friends as saying that he’d “counted seven times” that Obasanjo’s rumoured to’ve died between 1999 and 2010. Obasanjo stated this at his Hill Top home in Abeokuta, capital city of Ogun State, when he addressed the news about his “demise.”
Obasanjo spoke to newsmen, thus: “I think people take delight in speculation and rumouring. A friend of mine told me this morning (December 31, 2010), breaking to me the news of my death, and he was trying to confirm. He said he had counted seven times that I have been rumoured dead since the eve of my inauguration in 1999 as a democratically-elected President of Nigeria till today.
“Those who indulge in this – and those who have superstitious belief that when there are rumours and speculations like this, it means longevity – will not give up. Whether longevity or not, what I know is that until the Good Lord, who has created me, decides to say yes, ‘I have reached my take-off point to return to Him,’ people may speculate, people may rumour and that will be their own handicap.
“My word to Nigerians is that wishes are not horses. People wish and God does not make it to happen. But I know that anybody created is bound to die sometimes. When my time comes, it will not be man that will decide; it is in the hands of God,” he said.
Obasanjo debunked the latest “fake news” about his death on November 26, 2024, during the inauguration of a dual carriageway in Osogbo, Osun State capital city, to commemorate the second anniversary of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Going after the rumour peddlers with a “return-to-sender” message they’d intended for him, Obasanjo said: “I heard the rumour that I was dead. I saw it on social media. I quickly told my children and my relations that it was not true and that I was alive. Those who want me dead, that is their wish but God still keeps me alive.
“Why would anyone wish me dead? Those who harbour such thoughts will not escape tragedy themselves. This kind of rumour is not only disturbing but shows the extent to which some people misuse technology. It is unacceptable.”
As for Prof. Yakubu, the second rumour about his death came in December 2024, three years after a similar “fake news,” prompting the INEC chairman to declare that, “I am alive, hale and hearty,” and presented the itinerary of his activities in Nigeria during the timeframe of his reported hospitalisation in London.
A statement by Yakubu’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, reads in part: “Our attention has been drawn to a fake news narrative circulated by a section of the social media, claiming the purported death of the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at a London hospital. The story first appeared on Monday, 9th December, 2024.
“We hereby appeal to the public to disregard the rumour. Prof. Yakubu is alive, hale and hearty. In fact, he has not travelled to London in the last two years. He was present at an interactive meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters on Wednesday, 11th December, 2024.
“He also chaired the commission’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners on Thursday, 12th December, 2024. Both events were widely covered on television and reported on the front pages of most newspapers yesterday, Friday, 13th December, 2024.”
Recalling that “mischief-makers on social media carried a similar fake story in 2021,” Mr Oyekanmi warned that, “those who indulge in this practice, as well as those who spread it, should be mindful of its effect not only on the individual, but also the wider society,” pledging that the INEC “will continue to work with genuine media professionals to combat the scourge of fake news and the danger it poses to society.”
Will people stop to create and spread “false or fake” news about deaths of prominent Nigerians? Whose death will next be conjured? Will the media, as usual, fall for it without authentication? Such, in the words of Prof. Dare, will be a “shameful outing that they will never quite live down.”

Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria. Can be reached on X, Threads, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp @EhichioyaEzomon. Tel: 08033078357

By Fred Itua

In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Napoleon, the pig rises to power not by virtue of competence or vision but by undermining others, spreading falsehoods, and manipulating the system to serve his selfish interests. Like Napoleon, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, after its crushing defeat in the 2024 governorship election, has adopted a strategy of sabotage. Incapable of delivering themselves, they now pour scorn on Senator Monday Okpebholo’s administration, attempting to derail the progress he is committed to achieving.
Since losing the election, the PDP has displayed post-traumatic bitterness. Its factional spokespersons—some of whom served in previous administrations and were accused of absconding with official properties, including luxurious vehicles allegedly disposed off, at scandalously low prices—have launched an unrelenting tirade against the Governor.
For instance, they criticized the proposed flyover project aimed at easing the notorious gridlock that has plagued Benin City for years. It seems they would prefer the city remains mired in chaos than to see a solution emerge under Okpebholo’s leadership. They probably envied such remarkable feat of an iconic Ramat Park flyover by Governor Okpebholo, which they would have loved to accomplish but for their short-sightedness.
Meanwhile, the Governor has focused on strengthening the civil service, re-entrusting it with its rightful role as the engine room of governance. In doing so, he has flushed out consultants hurriedly converted into civil servants by the previous administration and elevated to senior roles. These consultants, who treated Edo State as their cash cow, have been shown the door, paving the way for career civil servants to step up and drive governance effectively. But rather than acknowledge this bold reform, the PDP has chosen to cry foul.
The party’s dissatisfaction extends to the restoration of the state-owned Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma and the resumption of its monthly subvention—a clear effort to revitalize the institution. Yet, the PDP attempted to stir needless controversy around this decision. Their grievances are steeped in bitterness, as they appear unable to applaud progress when it emanates from the opposition.
The dearth of the university in the past eight years in the hands of the past PDP administration has been criticized as most ignoble. Beyond economic prospects, the university has added robust value to academics and attracted global researchers to Edo State. In one swoop, the PDP administration downed all those accomplishments.
Equally telling is their reaction to the Governor’s insistence on accountability in local government administration. The councils under the PDP-led government abandoned their core responsibilities and took up the roles of vote-buying, intimidations of political opponents, and siphoning of resources for political expediencies. Predictably, the PDP vehemently protested the Governor’s demand for transparency, preferring the councils to remain its life support, especially in funding their court cases against the Government.
The local government councils were already weighed down by the huge spending on court cases and party leaders, such that they got little or nothing for their primary duties like salaries.
One of the core values of Governor Okpebholo’s administration is that workers’ salaries and emoluments must be prioritized and non-negotiable.
While the PDP has the right to criticism, they must be constructive and devoid of fallacies and misrepresentations. Governor Okpebholo has even urged the state-owned Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS) to entertain critical assessments of his administration. However, criticism must be rooted in truth and not bitterness, which currently defines the opposition’s approach. Okpebholo’s stance for fair play must not be taken for granted.
Attempts to demarket this administration will fail. Governor Monday Okpebholo’s election by the majority of the people has also been justified by his tireless work for all; irrespective of tribe, religion, or political leaning, as it was in the past administration.
Like Orwell’s Napoleon, the PDP may thrive on manipulation and sabotage, but the people of Edo State can see through the mischief. Progress, under the leadership of Governor Okpebholo, will not be hindered by the noise of a bitter opposition.

Fred Itua is the Chief Press Secretary to Edo State Governor