23/02/2023
Breaking News!
PETER MBAH GOES FOR BROKE, SUES INEC TO EVADE DISQUALIFICATION
*Says only election petition tribunal can disqualify him
*NGO seeks President Buhari's intervention
Peter Mbah, the PDP governorship candidate in Enugu State, is no longer seeking to prove that his NYSC discharge certificate with serial number A808297 is genuine; he and the PDP now claim that possession of a certificate issued by the NYSC is not needed by a candidate contesting for governor of Enugu State. In a suit filed on behalf of Mbah and the PDP by Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, and others at the High Court of Enugu State, the plaintiffs quoted copiously from the Nigerian constitution and the Electoral Act 2022 to show that only an aspirant who participated in the PDP primary election may initiate an action seeking the disqualification of Mbah, and that only a duly constituted election petition tribunal could disqualify him.
The suit now filed in Enugu was, however, preceded by two unsuccessful attempts, as judges assigned the case declined. Enugu Monitor gathered that a high judicial officer from Ukehe, acting at the instance of a ranking politician in the state, had approached two judicial officers from Enugu North senatorial district but they refused to accept the case, apparently pleading that the Enugu court had no jurisdiction in the matter. As it has turned out, no judge has been assigned the case, as court documents sighted by Enugu Monitor and dated February 10 indicate.
Mbah has, since his cover was blown by an NGO, Total Support for the Rule of Law & Justice Initiative, been running helter-skelter in search of even a "jankara" judgement that would enable him to contest the gubernatorial election in Enugu State on March 11.
A law firm, Omas and Partners, had applied to INEC under the Freedom of Information Act to make available all documents submitted by Mbah in his nomination form. INEC complied. The law firm further applied to the NYSC for verification of Mbah's NYSC discharge certificate. The NYSC, in a reply dated February 1, 2023, and signed by Ibrahim A. Muhammed, director, corps certification, stated that the NYSC certificate number A808297 was not issued by the NYSC.
Consequently, the NGO caused its solicitors to file a direct criminal complaint against Mbah at the Magistrate Court of the FCT Abuja. The court, on February 6, directed the AIG of police, Zone 7, to
investigate the complaint and report the outcome to the magistrate within two weeks.
Lawyers interviewed say even if Mbah should go on to contest and peradventure win, he would be ultimately disqualified in line with the clear and unambiguous provision of section 182 (i) of the 1999 Constitution, which is to the effect that any candidate for governorship election who submits a forged certificate to the Commission would be disqualified. "This is a notorious matter of law affirmed in a litany of Supreme Court cases," a lawyer who refused to speak for attribution said. "If NYSC certificate was not required for contesting an election, why should a candidate submit a fake copy of it to INEC?"
Meanwhile, Total Support for the Rule of Law & Justice Initiative has written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to mandate the police to carry out the said investigation without any fear or favour. It also pleaded with the president to use his good offices to ensure that the NYSC does not compromise in the circimstances, and that those who may be found culpable should be brought to justice. "Your Excellency, it is our firm conviction that no one is above the law, no matter his/her political heights in Nigeria," the NGO said in the open letter dated February 10 and published in a national newspaper.
-- By Kachifoo Nwobodo/ Enugu Monitor
