The Supreme Court of Nigeria today Friday finally confirmed Enugu State’s Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as duly elected and returned in the 2023 general elections.
Sitting in Abuja, the apex court dismissed the petition of opponents and upheld the judgements of the lower Courts.
The electoral commission (INEC) had declared Mbah winner with 160,895 votes against his closest challenger the Labour Party (LP) Governorship Candidate, Chijioke Jonathan Edeoga’s 157,552 votes for the 18th March governorship poll.
LP and Edeoga through their Counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN, approached the tribunal seeking redress. INEC, Mbah and PDP were listed as the first, second and third defendants, respectively.
Edeoga & LP anchored their petition based on 3 grounds:
(1) That Mbah was not qualified to participate in the election because he failed the basic eligibility test by filing a forged NYSC discharge Certificate under oath.
(2) That the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, with respect to the non-use of BVAS machines for accreditation, inter-changing of LP’s results in 19 PUs at the Ward Collation Centre in Udenu LGA , electoral violence and
(3) That the election result was not counted in accordance with the law due to over-voting, wrong tabulations especially in Mbah’s Owo Ward and Ugbawka 1 Ward, both of Nkanu East LGA, etc.
On September 21, the Justice Kudirat Morayo Akano-led tribunal unanimously ruled in favour of the defendants on all grounds, and thereafter dismissed the petition for lacking in merit, weak, based on hearsay and loads of concocted and inadmissible evidence.
Dismayed by the outcome, Edeoga and the LP approached the penultimate Court in these matters for reprieve.
On November 10, the Appeal Court in a well-delivered ruling, upheld the decisions of the tribunal in toto. The three-man panel resolved all grounds of the petition in favour of the Respondents, and affirmed the return of Peter Mbah as duly elected.
Obviously unhappy with the decisions, the LP and Edeoga approached the Supreme Court praying amongst others, the disqualification of the PDP Candidate.
The Court resolved all the issues in favour of Mbah. “The petition lacks merit and ought to be thrown out” the Court held.
