The Electoral Tribunal for the Enugu state governorship election has dismissed the petition of Chris Agu, candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), against the election of Peter Mbah.
The petitioners alleged that Mbah was unqualified to run for the governor on the grounds that he had forged his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.
They also claimed that as Mbah had been charged with corruption and entered a plea bargain with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he was not fit to run for the election.
However, the Tribunal which was presided over by Justice Kudirat Murayo Akano ruled on Thursday that the petitioner had failed to show that the respondent lacked the minimal qualification for running for office, which is a school diploma or its equivalent.
The tribunal ruled that PRP’s assertion that an invalid certificate was submitted to INEC was not supported by any evidence, noting that the relevant information was not included in the petitioner’s affidavit.
The tribunal further ruled that the petitioner must present both the genuine and the fake certificates in order to establish the forgery claim.
Regarding the plea agreement, the tribunal determined that the petitioners’ materials did not demonstrate that the respondent had entered into a plea agreement.
Instead, the court decided that Mbah’s evidence demonstrated that he was cleared of all allegations.
The petitioners’ claim that Mbah was not elected by a majority of valid votes cast was determined to be unfounded by the tribunal as well.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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