The Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the election of Governor Peter Mbah.
A three-member panel led by Justice Kudirat Murayo held that the National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate is not a qualification to contest for governorship.
Consequently, the panel dismissed the petition filed by the Labour Party and its candidate.
PRP petition dismissed
In the same vein, the petition filed by Chris Agu of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) against Mbah regarding allegations of a forged certificate, lack of qualifications, and corruption has been dismissed.
The tribunal in Enugu held that, for the forgery allegation to be substantiated, the petitioner needed to produce both the original certificate and the alleged forged version as evidence.
Hence, the panel ruled that the petitioner failed to furnish evidence supporting their claim of a forged NYSC certificate submitted to INEC, noting that this issue was not included in their affidavit.
The panel also held that the petitioner failed to establish that Mbah did not meet the minimum eligibility requirement for election of possessing a school certificate or its equivalent.
They stated that the witnesses presented by the petitioner were unable to pinpoint the polling units where elections allegedly did not take place or provide corresponding results.
Furthermore, the panel resolved the matter concerning whether Mbah had been elected by a majority of the votes cast, finding no grounds to challenge his victory in this regard.
Regarding the plea bargain matter involving Mbah, the tribunal clarified that the exhibits presented by the petitioners did not provide any indication of a plea bargain by the respondent.
The court highlighted that Mbah had presented evidence demonstrating his acquittal of the charges.
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