Certificate Forgery Case: Supreme Court Rejects Nnaji’s Petition, Upholds Governor Mbah’s Victory
By Oviri Kelvin
The Supreme Court in Abuja has dismissed the appeal brought by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Uche Nnaji, challenging the election victory of Governor Peter Mbah in Enugu State.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel of Justices on Friday, 15 September, 2023, the court ruled that the appeal was incompetent due to an invalid brief of argument presented by Nnaji and his party, leading to the dismissal of the case.
This decision aligns with a similar ruling by the Court of Appeal in Enugu on July 18, which upheld the verdict of the Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, confirming Governor Mbah’s election win. The appellate court also imposed a fine of N250,000 on both Nnaji and the APC.
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Initially declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with 160,895 votes in the gubernatorial poll, Governor Mbah defeated his closest rival, Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP), who secured 157,552 votes.
Nnaji, dissatisfied with the outcome, filed a petition alleging that Mbah was ineligible to contest and had presented a forged certificate to INEC.
However, on June 20, the Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petition, citing non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022. The subsequent appeal to the appellate court met a similar fate.
