Gov. Mbah says Appeal Court victory for Enugu People

The governor said, “I want to use this opportunity to commend the justices of the court of appeal for standing firmly by the sacredness of the temple of justice.

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Dr. Peter Mbah, Enugu State Governor
Gov. Mbah, appeal court victory, enugu people
Dr. Peter mbah, enugu state governor

Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State, has said that his victory at the Appeal Court sitting in Lagos was a victory for the people of Enugu State.

BRANDPOWER reports that the appellant court upheld Mbah as the duly elected Governor of Enugu State.

The Election Petition Tribunal in Enugu had on Sept 2, upheld the election of Mbah in the March 18, Governorship election.

Chijoke Edeoga of the Labour Party, who was not satisfied with the outcome of the tribunal, proceeded to Appeal Court to challenge the ruling of the trial court.

The Appellate Court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed three issues raised by the opposing party.

The three-member panel, led by Justice Tani Yusuf-Hassan, concluded that the Labour Party (LP) and its governorship candidate failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that Mbah was not qualified to contest the election as well as over voting.

The judge added that the petitioner did not present any admissible evidence to prove that Mbah’s NYSC certificate was forged.

Regarding the allegation of over-voting, Justice Hassan stated in her lead judgement that the “Voters’ Register” was not presented before the lower tribunal.
She, therefore, said that failure to submit the voters’ register rendered the appeal inadmissible.
The court also determined that the witnesses presented by the Labour Party did not sufficiently prove the existence of over-voting in the governorship election.
Consequently, the appeal dismissed thd case for lacking merit, affirming the judgement of the election tribunal, which declared Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.
BRANDPOWER reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Gov. Mbah, as winner of the March 18 governorship election with 160,895 votes.
Edeoga of the LP came second with 157,552 votes, while Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 17, 983 votes to claim third place.
Dissatisfied with the results, Edeoga and his party filed a petition, challenging Mbah’s victory, asking they should be declared as the winners, claiming they had the highest valid votes.
The petitioners also raised concerns about the alleged forgery of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate by Mbah.
However, the Enugu State governorship election petition tribunal ruled in favour of Mbah, stating that he met the minimum requirements for the election, which include possessing a school certificate or its equivalent.
The tribunal rejected Edeoga’s witnesses, adding that the petitioner did not present any admissible evidence to prove that Mbah’s certificate was forged.

She, therefore, dismissed the appeal for lack of merit, affirming the judgement of the election tribunal, which declared Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.

Reacting, Mbah said the judgement of the appellant court was consistent with the earlier dismissal of same matter filed before the Enugu State Election Petition Tribunal.

He added that both judgement were consistent and were in line with the mandate truly given to him by the people of Enugu State on March 18 Gubernatorial election.

“As you are aware that few minutes ago, Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos dismissed petition filed against us by the Labour Party Gubernatorial candidate.

“The judgement further reaffirmed our belief in judiciary as the last hope of the common man and as a lawyer, this judgement reaffirms my believe and trust in the irrevocable will of the judiciary,” Mbah said

The governor said, “I want to use this opportunity to commend the justices of the court of appeal for standing firmly by the sacredness of the temple of justice.

“I want to also thank the great people of Enugu State for their endurance in the face of palpable untruth to paint their government black”.

Mbah added that with the judgement, they were going to deploy more energy and commitment to bring development at the door step of Enugu people.

“It is not a victory for Peter Mbah as a governor, it is a victory for water that will run non stop in taps of Enugu homes in less than 20 days

“It is also a victory that will make Enugu State a road construction site. We are talking of the length and breadth of Enugu State being transformed to road construction site.

“It is also a victory that would ensure that we have Smart Schools across the 260 wards of Enugu State.

“Let me assure Ndi Enugu that we are not going to let them down, we are going to deploy every breath and fibre of our being to consolidate on the gain we made so far.

“Again, I want to express my profound gratitude to the great people of Enugu for their tremendous support and unimpeachable trust they reposed in us,” the governor said.

He promised that his administration would never fail them, adding that the long awaited “tomorrow is right here with us”.

 

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