Supreme Court affirms Gov Mbah’s election in Enugu

Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the election of Governor in Enugu State.

The apex court delivered the verdict in an appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the state, Uche Nnaji.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mbah as the winner of the March 18 governorship election after he polled 160,895 votes to defeat the Labour Party candidate, Chijioke Edeoga and 16 other candidates in the exercise.

Edeoga finished in second position with 157,552 votes while Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) scored 17, 983 votes to place third.

Nnaji got 14,575 votes in the poll.

The APC candidate, however, challenged the governor’s election on two grounds.

READ ALSO: PDP witness tenders Gov Mbah’s NYSC letters at Enugu tribunal

He alleged that Mbah presented a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate to INEC before the election.

Nnaji also told the governorship election petitions tribunal that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate did not score the majority of valid votes in the election.

In a ruling delivered on June 20, the tribunal dismissed the petition on the grounds that it was not filed in compliance with the Electoral Act.

The appeal court also dismissed the case for the same reason.

Dissatisfied with the judgement, Nnaji approached the Supreme Court to set aside the rulings.

In its judgement, a five-member panel of the apex court described the APC candidate’s appeal as an “invalid brief of argument.”

The panel consequently dismissed the case for being incompetent.

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