Supreme court affirms Peter Mbah as Enugu governor

The supreme court has affirmed Peter Mbah as the duly elected governor of Enugu state.

The apex court, in a unanimous decision delivered by a five-member panel of justices on Friday, dismissed an appeal filed by the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, challenging the outcome of the governorship election which held on March 18.

The court held that it found no reason to overturn the verdicts of the Enugu state governorship election petitions tribunal and the court of appeal, which dismissed all the allegations the appellants raised against Mbah’s victory in the poll.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election with 160,895 votes.

Edeoga of the LP came second with 157,552 votes, while Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 17,983 votes to claim third place.

Edeoga and his party had approached the tribunal to disqualify Mbah and declare him the winner of the election, while claiming to have polled the highest valid votes cast.

The petitioners also challenged the candidacy of the governor over an alleged forgery of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.

But in September, the tribunal held that Edeoga and his party failed to prove their case.

The court held that Mbah met the minimum requirements for the election which is a school certificate or its equivalent.

The tribunal rejected Edeoga’s witnesses, adding that the petitioners did not present any admissible evidence to prove that Mbah’s certificate was forged.

In November, the tribunal’s verdict was affirmed by the court of appeal in Lagos.