Appeal court affirms Peter Mbah’s victory as Enugu governor

The court of appeal in Lagos has affirmed the election of Peter Mbah as the governor of Enugu state.

In a unanimous decision delivered on Friday, the three-member panel led by Tani Yusuf-Hassan dismissed three issues raised by the appellants.

The panel held that the Labour Party (LP) and its governorship candidate failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that Mbah was not qualified to contest the election.

On the allegation of over-voting, Yusuf-Hassan held that the appellants failed to present the “voters’ register” before the lower tribunal.

The judge noted that failure to submit the voters’ register rendered the appeal inadmissible.

The court also held that the witnesses presented by the appellants did not sufficiently prove the existence of over-voting in the governorship election.

Consequently, the appeal court dismissed the suit for lacking merit and affirmed the judgement of the election tribunal which declared Mbah as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.

Reacting to the judgement, Mbah described it as a “victory for the people”.

“The judgement of the appellate court is consistent with an earlier dismissal of the same matter filed before the Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal,” he said

“And both judgements are in line with the mandate freely given to us by the great people of Enugu state in the March 18 gubernatorial election.

“They further reaffirmed our belief in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man.

“Let me also say this as a lawyer: this judgement reaffirms my belief and trust in the irrevocable will of the judiciary.

“I want to use this opportunity to commend the justices of the court of appeal for standing firmly by the sacredness of the temple of justice.

“I want to also thank the great people of Enugu State for their endurance in the face of palpable untruths purveyed just to paint their government black.

“Therefore, with this judgement, we are going to deploy more energy and commitment to bring development to the doorsteps of Ndi Enugu.

“Permit me also to state that this is not a victory for Peter Mbah as a governor; it is a victory for water that will run nonstop in Enugu city homes in less than 20 days from today.

“It is also a victory that would make the length and breadth of Enugu State a road construction site. It is also a victory that would ensure that we have smart schools across the 260 Wards of Enugu State.

“Let me assure Ndi Enugu that we are not going to let them down. We are going to deploy every breath and fibre of our being to consolidate the gains we have made so far.

“Again, I want to express my profound gratitude to the great people of Ndi Enugu for their tremendous support and the unimpeachable trust they reposed in us. We will never fail them. Indeed, the long-awaited tomorrow is right here with us.”