The Lagos Court of Appeal has upheld the triumph of Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah in the gubernatorial election held on March 18.
The court rejected the appeal lodged by Chijioke Edeoga, the Labour Party’s candidate for governorship, deeming it lacking in merit. The court affirmed the Enugu Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal’s verdict from September.
The three-member panel, headed by Justice Tijani Yusuf Hassan, asserted that the appellant failed to substantiate claims that Mbah had forged his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate and, therefore, was ineligible to participate in the election.
The decision follows closely on the heels of a Federal High Court ruling in Abuja on Monday, which ordered the NYSC to pay N5 million in damages for falsely asserting that Mbah’s discharge certificate was counterfeit.
Judge Nyang Ekwo determined that both the NYSC and its Director General were culpable of misrepresenting essential facts.