The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu State has upheld the election of Governor Peter Mbah
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu State has upheld the election of Governor Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18 governorship election.
The three-member panel of the tribunal led by Justice Kudirat Murayo dismissed the petitions of the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, insisting that they could not prove their petitions.
In dismissing the petitioners’ petition, the tribunal declared that the National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate is not a qualification to contest a governorship election.
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Edeoga is challenging the return of Mbah as duly elected governor of Enugu state on grounds of submitting a forged NYSC discharge certificate, over voting, among others.
However, delivering judgement on Thursday on the petition, the tribunal struck out the forgery of the NYSC certificate case, saying “NYSC discharge Certificate is not a qualification for governorship.”
The court queried “Assuming that the NYSC discharge certificate of the second Respondent as claimed by the Petitioners was forged, is the NYSC Certificate a qualification to contest for Governor in Nigeria according to the constitution? The answer is no.”
The Tribunal also dismissed the claims of certificate forgery by the Peoples Redemption Party, (PRP), candidate, Elder Christopher Agu, against Mbah as lacking merit.
Agu had alleged that Mbah forged his National Youth Service Corps, NYSC certificate. He also alleged irregularities in the election, as well as over voting.
But the Tribunal, held that the petitioner could not prove allegations of fraud against the respondent.
The Tribunal held that there was no evidence before it to support PRP’s claim that a forged certificate was submitted to INEC, adding that the issue was not contained in the petitioner’s affidavit.
In particular, it stated that to prove forgery, both the original and the supposedly forged certificate ought to have been exhibited.
On the issue of plea bargain by Mbah, the Tribunal averred that the exhibits presented by the petitioners didn’t show any plea bargain by the respondent. The court said the evidence presented by Mbah was to the effect that he was acquitted of the charges.
The panel also averred that witnesses called by the petitioners couldn’t specify the polling units where the elections didn’t hold nor the results of same.
It concluded that the governorship election of March 18 and the return of Governor Peter Mbah as winner complied with the provisions of Electoral Act, 2022.