The Supreme Court, on Friday, rejected the appeal to nullify Governor Peter Mbah’s election victory in Enugu State.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel of Justices, the apex court dismissed the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Uche Nnaji, challenging Mbah’s victory in the gubernatorial election.
Justice Tijani Abubakar, in the lead judgment, stated that the appellants (Nnaji and APC) had submitted an invalid brief of argument.
The court found that they failed to provide any substantial reason to rely on their flawed submission to invalidate Governor Mbah’s election.
Because the appellants’ argument was legally flawed, it ultimately affected the core of the appeal. Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the case as incompetent.
Previously, the Court of Appeal in Enugu had, on July 18, dismissed Nnaji’s case against Governor Mbah, upholding the verdict of the Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which confirmed Mbah’s victory.
Additionally, the appellate court imposed a cost of N250,000 each on Nnaji and the APC.
Following the gubernatorial election in Enugu State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared that Mbah had secured 160,895 votes, defeating Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP) who received 157,552 votes.
Frank Nweke Jnr. of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) came third with 17,983 votes, while Nnaji came fourth with 14,575 votes.
Dissatisfied with the election outcome, Nnaji filed a petition challenging Mbah’s eligibility, alleging that he presented a forged certificate to INEC.
He also argued that Mbah was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes.
Nnaji requested the tribunal to disqualify Mbah, Edeoga, and Nweke, and either declare himself the winner or order a runoff election, excluding Mbah and the PDP.
However, on June 20, the Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petition, citing non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
Unsatisfied with this judgment, Nnaji appealed to the appellate court to overturn the tribunal’s decision or instruct the tribunal to hear his petition on its merits, a request that was denied on Friday.