The Enugu State Governorship Election Tribunal has upheld the election of Governor Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in the March 18, governorship election in the state.
The tribunal chaired by Justice Kudirat Murayo Akano also struck out Edeoga/Labour Party’s allegations of over-voting and bypassing of BVAS in the election.
The court ruled that Mbah was duly elected as governor by the majority of lawful and valid votes cast at the election.
The tribunal had earlier dismissed the allegation of Edeoga/LP that Governor Peter Mbah’s NYSC discharge certificate was forged.
It held that Mbah did not submit his NYSC certificate to INEC to support his qualification to contest for the office of governor, since he was already qualified without an NYSC certificate.
The tribunal further rejected Edeoga’s witnesses and ruled that the LP governorship candidate did not present any admissible evidence to prove that Mbah’s certificate was forged.
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Earlier, the tribunal also dismissed the petition of Chris Agu of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) against Mbah over a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate, non-qualification, and corruption against the governor.
The tribunal ruled that the petitioner failed to provide evidence to support their claim that a forged NYSC certificate was submitted to the INEC, adding that the issue is not contained in their affidavit.
It also held that to prove the issue of forgery, the petitioner must provide the original certificate and the forged one, adding that the panel also resolved the issue that Mbah was not elected by a majority of votes cast against the petitioner.
The panel averred that witnesses called by the petitioners could not specify the polling units where the elections did not hold nor the results of same.
It further held that the petitioner failed to prove that the Mbah did not possess the minimum requirement to stand for election which is a school certificate or its equivalent, saying that there was no evidence to support the claim that Mbah was not qualified to stand for the election.
On the issue of the plea bargain by Mbah, the tribunal averred that the exhibits presented by the petitioners did not show any plea bargain by the respondent.
The court said there was evidence presented by Mbah to the effect that he was acquitted of the charges.
