The Labour Party (LP) has appealed to Supreme Court justices “to look judiciously at all the evidence and the law” and do justice in its appeal against the judgement of the Court of Appeal that upheld the election of Mr. Peter Mbah as governor of Enugu State.
The National Secretary Malam Umar Farouk, at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, warned that the danger in upholding Mbah’s election is that the will and desire of the people of Enugu State as demonstrated in their voting pattern on March 18 would be undermined.
Malam Farouk noted that Mbah was not qualified to contest, at the time of the election, having allegedly presented a forged discharge certificate of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in contravention of Section 182(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The National Secretary disclosed that the LP candidate Chijioke Edeoga tendered an NYSC disclaimer letter dated 2/2/23 to the court, which was admitted as exhibit.
He added that there was evidence from the NYSC director of certification who, upon subpoenaed by the tribunal, said Mbah was parading a forged NYSC certificate.
“Earlier before this, the Director General of the NYSC Brig. Gen. Y.D. Ahmed had gone on national television … (to) say that Mbah was parading a forged NYSC certificate,” Malam Farouk recalled.
According to him, a letter of appointment dated July 14, 2003 appointing Mbah as Chief of Staff to the then governor of Enugu State Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, at the time the governor claimed to be serving in Lagos as a corps member, was also tendered before the tribunal.
The National Secretary stated that there was evidence before the tribunal from INEC staff that Mbah’s Form EC9 (nomination form and affidavits of personal particulars), which he said, confirmed that the alleged forged NYSC certificate was attached to his Form EC9.
“Also tendered but rejected by the tribunal and Court of Appeal as not enough (were) the various witness statements confirming over-voting, the act of non-compliance complained by our candidate in Nkanu East and Igboeze North LGAs, and the failure of INEC to cancel the results in places where there were incidences of over-voting as demanded by the Electoral Act.
“In Enugu state, we need to remind Nigerians and all lovers of democracy that the Labour Party won two of the three Senate seats, seven of the eight House of Representatives seats, and 14 majority of the 24 state House of Assembly seats, but INEC and judiciary are trying to give the governorship to another party,” Malam Farouk regretted.
He warned that forgery of the NYSC certificate and indeed other certificates would be legalised, if Mbah’s election is upheld.
“NYSC as a credible national institution in the country will be destroyed and the military who oversees the NYSC as a paramilitary body will be dented,” he further warned.
