The Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu, has re-affirmed Peter Ndubuisi Mbah as duly elected Governor of the Coal City State.
On March 22, INEC declared the PDP Candidate, Mbah winner with 160895 votes against his closest challenger the LP Candidate, Chijioke Jonathan Edeoga’s 157552 votes in the 18th March Governorship poll.
Dissatisfied with the results as declared by the umpire, the Labour Party and Edeoga through their Counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN, approached the tribunal seeking redress. INEC, Mbah and PDP are listed as the first, second and third respondents, respectively.
Edeoga/LP’s anchored their petition based on 3 grounds:
(1) That Mbah was not qualified to participate in the election because he failed the basic eligibility test by filing a forged NYSC discharge Certificate under oath.
(2) That the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, with respect to the non-use of BVAS machines for accreditation, inter-changing of LP’s results in 19 PUs at the Ward Collation Centre in Udenu LGA , electoral violence and
(3) That the election result was not counted in accordance with the law due to over-voting, wrong tabulations especially in Mbah’s Owo Ward and Ugbawka 1 Ward, both of Nkanu East LGA, etc.
In turn, Mbah through his Counsel Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN asked the Court to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit and been an academic exercise.
He argued that Edeoga participated in the Primary of the 3rd Respondent (PDP) on 25th May 2022, lost securing only 9 votes and now emerged Candidate of the LP on June 9, hence his name was not on the membership register of the LP and therefore had no locus to approach the tribunal.
Dismissing same, Justice Kudirat Morayo Akano held that Edeoga is a member of the LP, as the Party had not denied sponsoring him. He also ruled that the membership of a Political Party is within the domestic affairs of that Party and is non-justiciable.
