TheCable

The election of Peter Mbah, governor of Enugu, was affirmed by the governorship election petition tribunal on Thursday.

Delivering judgement, a three-member tribunal led by Kudirat Akano, dismissed the petition filed by Chijioke Edeoga, candidate of the Labour Party (LP).

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the March 18 governorship election with 160,895 votes.

Edeoga came second with 157,552 votes while Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 17, 983 votes to claim third place.

But Edeoga and his party approached the tribunal, seeking to disqualify Mbah and declare him the winner of the election.

Edeoga claimed to have polled the highest valid votes cast in the election.

The petitioners also challenged the candidacy of the governor over an alleged forgery of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.

However, the tribunal held that Edeoga and his party failed to prove their case.

The court held that Mbah met the minimum requirement to stand for election which is a school certificate or its equivalent.

Click here to download the full judgement.