Tribunal Dismiss Forgery Allegations Against Enugu Gov

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed the allegation of forging the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate levelled against the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah.

Recall that Elder Christopher Agu of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) claimed that Governor Mbah who contested and won the gubernatorial election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) forged his NYSC certificate.

But in the ruling on Thursday, the tribunal led by Justice Kudirat Morayo Akano, said the claims by lacked merit.

Agu had also alleged that Mbah won the election amid irregularities as well as overvoting, thereby seeking nullification of his victory.

But the Justice Akano-led tribunal, in a judgement held that the petitioner could not prove allegations of fraud against the respondent.

The tribunal held that there was no evidence before it to support PRP’s claim that a forged certificate was submitted to INEC, adding that the issue was not contained in the petitioner’s affidavit.

It stated that to prove forgery, both the original and the supposedly forged certificates ought to have been displayed.

On the issue of plea bargain by Mbah, the Tribunal averred that the exhibits presented by the petitioners did not reveal any plea bargain by the respondent.

The court said the evidence presented by Mbah was to the effect that he was acquitted of the charges.The panel also averred that witnesses called by the petitioners could not specify the polling units where the elections failed to hold nor the results of same.