Peter Mbah, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Thursday affirmed as the duly elected governor of Enugu state by the governorship election petition tribunal in the state.
Justice Kudirat Akano-led three-man panel, while delivering the judgement, dismissed the petition filed by Chijioke Edeoga, candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
The Informant247 reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mbah as the winner of the March 18 governorship election with 160,895 votes after defeating Edeoga of the LP, who came second with 157,552 votes, while Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 17, 983 votes to claim third place.
Meanwhile, Edeoga and his party had approached the tribunal to disqualify Mbah and declare him the election winner while claiming to have polled the highest valid votes.
The petitioners also challenged the candidacy of the governor over an alleged forgery of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.
Delivering the judgment, the tribunal held that Edeoga and his party failed to prove their case, adding that Mbah met the minimum requirements for the election, a school certificate or its equivalent.
The tribunal rejected Edeoga’s witnesses, adding that the petitioners did not present any admissible evidence to prove that Mbah’s certificate was forged.
“NYSC discharge certificate is not a qualification for governorship,” the tribunal ruled.
“Assuming that the NYSC discharge certificate of the second respondent as claimed by the petitioners was forged, is the NYSC certificate a qualification to contest for governor in Nigeria according to the constitution? The answer is no.”