LP Rejects Enugu State Tribunal Judgment, Expresses Intention to Appeal to Apex Court 

By Adeke Chukwuka

The Labour Party (LP) has refused to accept the ruling of the Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld Peter Mbah’s victory as the state’s governor.

On Thursday, a three-member panel of judges led by Justice Kudirat Akano dismissed LP governorship candidate Chijioke Edeoga’s petition, deeming it incompetent.

The tribunal additionally ruled that Mr. Edeoga did not substantiate his claim that Mr. Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had forged his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.

The tribunal ruled that the PDP candidate was eligible for candidacy, even in the absence of the NYSC certificate, highlighting that the NYSC certificate wasn’t a prerequisite for qualification to run for the governor’s office, as outlined in Sections 177 and 138 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

Following the verdict, the chairperson of the LP in the state, Casmir Agbo, expressed to reporters that the tribunal had made a mistake in its judgement.

He stated that “the tribunal, in its wisdom, erred in both facts and law when they ruled that Peter Mbah’s forged NYSC certificate is not a requirement to contest for governorship election in the state.”

Citing Section 182(1)(j), which pertains to the disqualification of a candidate who presents a forged certificate, the chairperson argued that this provision did not stipulate that the forged certificate must be a prerequisite for contesting the election.

In his words, Agbo said, “They did not even tell us if the NYSC certificate was forged or not. They only ruled that the witness of the NYSC did not upload his written statement on oath.”

The Edeoga Campaign Organisation has expressed its intention to file an appeal against the judgement.