Barr Peter Mbah, the governor of Enugu State, has concluded his response to the appeal submitted by Barr Chijioke Edeoga, the Labour Party, LP candidate.
Mbah’s victory in the state’s governorship election on March 18 is being challenged by Edeoga.
His justifications include claims of election results manipulation and forging of NYSC certificates.
Mbah concluded his response to the case through his attorney, Mr. Bode Ola, after calling his current chief of staff, Mr. Victor Ude, to testify before the Enugu-based Governorship Election case Tribunal.
Mbah brought Festus Uzor and a DSS official on Wednesday, bringing the total number of witnesses to three with Ude’s attendance on Thursday.
In his testimony, Ude presented Mbah’s letters of redeployment, deferment, and reinstatement from the NYSC, which allowed Mbah to continue his service after completing his second year of law school.
In addition, he sent letters approving Mbah’s continuation in service and his final clearance following the completion of the NYSC training.
The lead attorney for the LP raised an objection to the documents’ inclusion and promised to explain why in their closing argument.
The witness indicated during cross-examination that Mbah should be restored in a letter from the NYSC.
The witness, a lawyer, claimed that he wrote the letters to the NYSC and that he also received a response.
Ude claimed, however, that he was unaware of the Inspector General of Police’s response to the NYSC certificate probe in March 2023.
Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), the lead attorney for the LP, insisted that there was no proof that the letters from NYSC were delivered and acknowledged.
As a lawyer, you are aware of the significance of official letters being delivered and acknowledged to government departments, he said.
Awomolo stated that according to the witness’ letter, Mbah was to complete his NYSC on September 16, 2003, at the same time that he began working as the chief of staff in the office of the governor of Enugu State in August 2003.
According to him, the EFCC accused the witness who had been subpoenaed of Mbah for suspected money laundering in the Federal High Court in Lagos in 2007.
The respondents’ attorneys, Mr. Bode Ola, counsel to Governor Peter Mbah, Mr. Anthony An, counsel for the PDP, and Humphrey Okoli, counsel to the INEC, objected to the document’s admissibility and stated that they would explain their positions in their closing arguments.
The document was accepted as evidence by the tribunal.
After the PDP lawyers concluded their case, Justice M.K. Akano, the three-member tribunal’s chairperson, delayed the hearing until August 16 in order to adopt final written addresses.
It may be recalled that Edeoga appeared before the tribunal with 30 witnesses but the INEC did not.
