The Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal issued an order on Thursday for Governor Peter Mbah to appear before the tribunal the following day to provide testimony regarding the alleged forgery of his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.
The order came after the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), represented by Mr. Alex Amujiogo, submitted an application requesting Governor Mbah’s appearance.
Governor Mbah, who was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Enugu State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is facing challenges from Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party and Elder Christopher Agu of the PRP. Both candidates accuse him of presenting a forged NYSC discharge certificate to the electoral commission.
In his petition to the tribunal, PRP candidate Agu, like the LP candidate, seeks to overturn the declaration of Governor Mbah as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.
During the hearing on Thursday, PRP’s counsel, Amujiogo, informed the tribunal that Governor Mbah had been subpoenaed and was supposed to be present in court. However, according to the affidavit filed by the tribunal’s bailiff, it had been challenging to serve the subpoena to Governor Mbah.
Amujiogo then made an application requesting that the tribunal allow for substituted service of the subpoena to be delivered to Governor Mbah through his counsel.
Although the three respondents – INEC, Governor Mbah, and the Peoples Democratic Party – opposed the application on the grounds that it should have been presented as a motion supported by an affidavit during the pre-trial session, the tribunal overruled their objections.
As a result, the Chairman of the Panel, Justice K. M. Akano, ordered that the subpoena be served on Governor Mbah through his counsel and that he should appear before the tribunal on June 23, 2023.
In the meantime, the PRP governorship candidate had already testified before the tribunal as PW2 during the session.
An official from the NYSC’s National Secretariat, Mr. Aliu Muhammed, appeared on behalf of the Director-General of the Corps. He presented an affidavit to the tribunal stating that an order from the Federal High Court in Abuja prevented them from presenting the disclaimer the Corps issued against Governor Mbah’s certificate.
Muhammed appeared in court in response to a subpoena issued to the NYSC.
Addressing journalists, PRP lawyer Amujiogo stated, “Our PW2 (Christopher Agu) has already testified before the Honourable Tribunal, providing a clearer picture and synopsis of what transpired during the election. We urge the tribunal to nullify the purported results in favor of Peter Mbah, the Governor.”
“We had issued a subpoena against Barr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, and the tribunal is requesting him to clarify certain issues based on his NYSC certificate and other matters. Surprisingly, he was not present at the tribunal today, and the bailiff informed the tribunal that he is evading service and cannot be found. Additionally, the security personnel would not allow the bailiff to serve Mbah the subpoena.”
“Then, upon my application, the Tribunal has granted permission for the bailiff or myself to serve Mbah through his counsel. This is to ensure his appearance before the Tribunal tomorrow, which is the 23rd of June 2023, in order to address specific issues raised against him. We have already served him the subpoena through his lawyer, Ik Onuoma, today in court.
“Therefore, it is imperative that he complies with the Tribunal’s summons and appears in person tomorrow, Friday.”
In the meantime, the case filed by Mr Chijioke Edeoga, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party, was also discussed during the Tribunal proceedings.
The pending interlocutory application, filed on May 16, regarding Mbah’s alleged forgery of an NYSC certificate, was presented before the Tribunal.
Edeoga is requesting the disqualification of Mbah based on the alleged forgery, citing a violation of Section 182 (j) of the Nigerian Constitution.
During the Tribunal’s session on Thursday, the Petitioners, represented by Mr M. J. Numa, presented their interlocutory application. Following this, the hearing was adjourned for the ruling on the application, scheduled for Saturday, May 24, along with a pre-trial report.
Speaking to journalists after the Tribunal’s session, one of Edeoga’s counsels, Ifeanyi Ogenyi, explained that the proceedings were a continuation of the pre-hearing session.
He stated, “The pre-hearing started on June 16 and continued today. The petitioners submitted an application, a motion for interrogatories, seeking answers from the second respondent, Mr Peter Mbah.
“Interrogatories are a set of legal questions aimed at obtaining specific answers. Some of the questions raised by the petitioners for Peter Mbah to answer include: the details of his service, the dates and locations of his appointments as Chief of Staff and Commissioner for Finance in Enugu State. We also seek clarification on the duration of his service.
“Because in his reply to the petition, he mentioned serving as Chief of Staff to Governor Chimaroke Nnamani in 2003. Therefore, we want to ascertain the precise year and appointment date.”