Supreme court affirms Peter Mbah as Enugu governor

The Supreme Court has affirmed Peter Mbah as the duly elected governor of Enugu state, dismissing an appeal filed by the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Chijioke Edeoga.

In a unanimous decision delivered by a five-member panel of justices on Friday, the apex court upheld the verdicts of the Enugu State governorship election petitions tribunal and the court of appeal.

The court found no grounds to overturn the previous decisions, which had rejected the LP’s and Edeoga’s allegations against Mbah’s victory in the March 18 governorship election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner with 160,895 votes.

The LP’s Edeoga came second with 157,552 votes, and Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) secured third place with 17,983 votes.

Edeoga and the LP had sought to disqualify Mbah, alleging irregularities and questioning his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.

However, the tribunal in September ruled in favor of Mbah, stating that the petitioners failed to provide sufficient evidence. The court held that Mbah met the necessary election requirements, and this decision was upheld by the court of appeal in November.