THE Governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Benin City, yesterday upheld the election of Governor Godwin Obaseki, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the September 28, 2016 governorship election in the state saying that the petition filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, lacked merit.

Ize-Iyamu had asked the tribunal to declare him winner of the election having polled the highest number of valid votes cast in the election or in the alternative cancel the election and order a re-run election after he alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Obaseki failed to comply with the electoral act during the election.

But the 3-man panel led by Justice Ahmed Badamasi, unanimously disagreed with Ize-Iyamu and the PDP, asserting that the petitioners only called witnesses but have no evidence to back their claims. Justice Badamasi noted that the petitioners strayed from their petition when they abandoned the issue of corrupt practices for non compliance with the Electoral Act, saying “they went on the journey without evidence”.

Edo guber: Ize-Iyamu rejects verdict as Tribunal upholds Obaseki’s election