By Daniel Edu
The State and National Assembly Appeal Court in Lagos has upheld the victory of Peter Mbah as the Governor of Enugu State, dismissing the opposition’s appeal.
In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel led by Justice Tani Yusuf-Hassan rejected three issues raised by the Labour Party (LP) and its governorship candidate, stating that they failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that Mbah was not qualified to contest the election.
Justice Hassan, in her lead judgment, addressed the allegation of over-voting, emphasizing that the “Voters’ Register” was not presented before the lower tribunal, rendering the appeal inadmissible. The court concluded that the witnesses presented by the Labour Party did not adequately prove the existence of over-voting in the governorship election.
As a result, the appeal was dismissed for lacking merit, affirming the election tribunal’s judgment that declared Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.
Earlier, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Mbah the winner with 160,895 votes, while the LP’s Edeoga came second with 157,552 votes, and Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) secured third place with 17,983 votes.
Dissatisfied with the results, Edeoga and the LP filed a petition challenging Mbah’s victory, alleging they had the highest valid votes and raising concerns about the alleged forgery of an NYSC certificate by Mbah. However, the Enugu State governorship election petition tribunal ruled in favor of Mbah, stating that he met the minimum requirements for the election, including possessing a school certificate or its equivalent. The tribunal rejected Edeoga’s witnesses, noting the absence of admissible evidence to prove the forgery claim.
