The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal convened in Enugu has, on Thursday, dismissed the NYSC certificate forgery lawsuit brought forth by the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) Governorship candidate, Chris Agu, against Governor Peter Mbah.
The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Kudirat Akano, stated that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate PRP’s assertion that a counterfeit certificate had been submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
They pointed out that this issue was not included in the petitioner’s sworn statement, emphasizing that in order to prove forgery, both the original and the alleged forged certificate should have been presented to the tribunal.
The tribunal concluded that the petitioner failed to establish that the respondent met the minimum requirements to run for the election, which includes a school certificate or its equivalent. Consequently, there was no supporting evidence for the claims, and Mbah was deemed unqualified to stand for the election.
Regarding the issue of plea bargaining by Mbah, the tribunal stated that the evidence presented by the petitioners did not demonstrate any plea bargain by the respondent.
Akano further ruled that Mbah was legitimately elected by a majority of votes cast during the election held on March 18.
It should be noted that the petitioner had alleged, among other things, that Mbah was not eligible to contest the election and was not lawfully elected. The court is presently delivering a similar judgment in the case of the Labour Party Governorship candidate, Mr. Chijioke Edeoga, against the election of Governor Mbah.
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