Less than 24 hours after summoning parties to appear before it, copies of a purported judgment from the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal surfaced online. The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, had reserved judgment on March 3 in the case filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Mr. Asuerinme Ighodalo, challenging the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election. Early Tuesday, the panel directed the parties to appear before it on Wednesday for the judgment. However, in an apparent leak, copies of the ruling circulated on the internet, revealing a two-to-one split decision. Documents obtained by Waffi TV on Tuesday indicated that while Tribunal Chairman Justice Kpochi and Member 1, Justice A. B. Yusuf, dismissed the petition and upheld Governor Monday Okpebholo’s election, the third panel member, Justice A. A. Adewole, dissented. He ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to PDP’s Ighodalo as the rightful winner. In his minority judgment, Justice Adewole ruled that Governor Okpebholo’s election was invalid due to substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act. He held that the governor was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes and consequently nullified his victory. In the tribunal’s lead and majority decision, Chairman Justice Kpochi ruled that while there was credible evidence of non-compliance—specifically regarding Section 73(2) (failure to record serial numbers in EC 25B) and Section 51(2) (over-voting)—the petitioners failed to prove that these violations substantially affected the election outcome, as required under Section 135(1) of the Electoral Act. Citing Supreme Court precedents in *Oyetola vs. Adeleke (2023)*, 10 NWLR (Pt. 1892), and *Atiku vs. INEC (2023)*, 19 NWLR (Pt. 1927), the panel held that the petitioners not only had to establish non-compliance but also demonstrate that it was significant enough to alter the election result. The tribunal emphasized that the petitioners needed to quantify their claims, linking each alleged violation to specific figures and proving that, without the infractions, the election outcome would have been different. INEC had declared Okpebholo of the APC as the winner, securing 291,667 votes against his closest rival, Ighodalo of the PDP, who garnered 247,655 votes. Challenging the result, the PDP and its candidate filed a petition, *EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024*, arguing that the election lacked substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022. They contended that Governor Okpebholo did not secure the highest number of lawful votes and accused INEC of failing to serialize and pre-record sensitive election materials—an oversight they claimed facilitated electoral fraud in favor of the APC.