Chijioke Edeoga, a candidate for governor from the Labour Party, requested that PDP Governor Peter Mbah be questioned, but the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Enugu State rejected his request.
Recall that Edeoga through his counsel filed an interlocutory application in the petition he filed before the tribunal seeking to interrogate Mbah, over the documents he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the governorship election.
Recall that Edeoga, through his attorney, requested an interrogation of Mbah regarding the documents he provided to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) prior to the governorship election in his plea to the tribunal.
The Labour Party candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, is challenging Mbah, who was proclaimed the victor of the Enugu State governorship election on March 18 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, over his alleged forgery of the National Youths Service Corps Discharge Certificate presented to the electoral umpire.
The tribunal scheduled Saturday, June 24, for a decision after hearing arguments from the petitioners and respondents in support of the application against, according to a report on Thursday.
The three-person panel, presided over by Justice Kudirat Akano, issued its decision on Saturday. It denied Edeoga’s application and continued the case until July 7.
The tribunal determined that the information Edeoga was requesting might be discovered either through cross-examination or by using the petitioners’ evidence.
The petitioners were given seven days to present their case at the pre-trial report, compared to two days for INEC to summon witnesses and four days each for Mbah and the PDP.
Addressing journalists shortly after the Tribunal’s session, one of the counsels to the LP, Ifeanyi Ogenyi said the party was ready to present its witnesses.
He said: “The petition came up today for ruling and issuance of the pre-hearing report.
“The ruling was in respect of application for interrogatories brought by the petitioners, seeking for some answers from the 2nd respondent, Peter Mbah, that he should answer some questions regarding when he was appointed as Chief of Staff, when he was appointed commissioner for finance in Enugu State, when he was called to the NIgerian Bar and the institutions he attended, based on his replies to the petition.
“But the court in its considered ruling this morning, stated that those questions can be elicited during cross examination or through the petitioner during evidence; therefore, the application for interrogatory was refused by the court.
“Then, the report of the tribunal on the pre-hearing session was delivered today, which has brought the pre-hearing session to a close.
“In their report, they outlined issues the parties raised, both the petitioners and the respondents.”
SaharaReporters reports that Governor Mbah has been enmeshed in several scandals since he emerged as the candidate of the PDP in the recently held elections.
Besides the repudiation by the NYSC, of the certificate of discharge he had submitted to INEC, Mbah has also faced questions on how he managed to be performing his compulsory national youth service programme in Lagos while he was simultaneously working full-time as Chief of Staff to Governor Nnamani in Enugu.
Just recently, the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State filed a petition to the Inspector General of Police, calling for an investigation into the Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) that was also submitted by Mbah as part of qualifications for the elections.