Court Gives Enugu Governor, Mbah June 22 To Respond To Academic Records Suit Filed By Labour Party’s Edeoga

The Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has given the state governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18, 2023 governorship election, Peter Mbah, till June 22, 2023, to respond to interlocutory applications filed by the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Chijioke Edeoga.
Recall that Edeoga had gone to the tribunal to challenge the declaration of Mbah as the winner of the governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Edeoga among other things had prayed the court for disqualification of Mbah over alleged certificate forgery, an act that he claims violates Section 182 (j) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Mbah’s case came to the spotlight in February 2023 when a letter that emanated from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) refuted a discharge certificate he submitted to the INEC as part of prequalification for the election.
But the Labour Party and its candidate, Edeoga are contesting the announcement of Mbah as the winner of the election on a number of grounds, one of which is the issue of certificate forgery.
Whereas lawyers to the PDP and Mbah have contended that the NYSC discharge certificate was not a qualification for the election, the Labour Party and its candidate have insisted that the matter bothers on a violation of the Nigerian constitution.
The Labour Party had therefore raised interlocutory questions before the Tribunal, compelling Mbah to explain where he had his secondary education, including the date and year he completed the six-year post-primary education.
Plaintiffs also want Mbah to present before the Tribunal, the year he got admission into the university as well as the year he graduated as well as the year he attended the Nigerian Law School and when he was called to the Nigerian Bar.
Mbah, the interlocutory application further demanded, should also provide details of the year and date he was mobilized for his NYSC programme and the date that he was discharged.
They are also asking Mbah to provide the year and date that he was appointed Chief of Staff to former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani as well as the date and time that he was appointed Commissioner for Finance by the same governor.