The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the election of Peter Mbah as the governor of Enugu State.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the election of Peter Mbah as the governor of Enugu State.
The apex court resolved all the issues in favour of the first respondent (Governor Peter Mbah).
The Court of Appeal in Lagos had earlier upheld the victory of Mbah in the March 18 governorship election conducted in Enugu State.
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Leading a three-member panel, Justice Tijani Hassan ruled that the appellant, Chijioke Edeoga, who was the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the election, failed to prove that Mbah forged his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate and was not qualified to contest the election.
The court dismissed the appeal as lacking in merit and upheld the judgment of the Enugu Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal delivered in September.
The tribunal rejected Edeoga’s witnesses, adding that the petitioner did not present any admissible evidence to prove that Mbah’s certificate was forged.
The appellate court’s judgement came days after the ruling of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday awarding N5 million in damages against the NYSC for claiming that its discharge certificate held by Mbah was fake.
Judge Nyang Ekwo held that the NYSC and its director-general were guilty of misrepresentation of material facts.
Mbah won the election with 160,895 votes, Edeoga came second with 157,552 votes, while Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 17, 983 votes to claim third place, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).