The All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for the September 2024 Edo election, Monday Okpebholo, appears not to have been registered to vote in Edo State.
A thorough check by SaharaReporters on the website of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows that his not registered to vote, even despite Okpebholo had submitted a voter card supposedly obtained from the Esan West Local Government Area.
According to the documents submitted by Okpebholo in his Form EC9 affidavit, which was sworn to on March 5, 2024 at the Federal High Court in Abuja and subsequently published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), his full name is Monday Okpebholo, and he was born on August 29th, 1970 in Irrua, Esan Central Local Government.
Upon verification on INEC’s official voter verification portal (https://cvr.inecnigeria.org/vvs), it was found that Sen. Okpebholo’s name is not registered to vote in any of the 18 local governments in Edo State, including his local government of Esan Central.
However, Okpebholo, was inaugurated into the Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly, on June 13, 2023, as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing Edo Central Senatorial District, was declared the winner of the APC governorship primary election on February 23, 2024.
While being registered to vote is not a constitutional requirement to run for Governorship or Senatorial seats, the presentation of a potentially forged card exposes the candidate to criminal litigation and post-election legal challenges.
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