Just In: Supreme Court throws out APC’s case against Enugu Gov Mbah’s victory
The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate in the last governorship election in Enugu State, Uche Nnaji, challenging the return of Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the election's winner.
A five-member jury of the supreme court ruled on Friday that the legal team of the APC and Nnaji filed an incompetent brief of argument and failed to persuade the court that the incompetent brief should be accepted.
Justice Tijani Abubakar ruled in the lead opinion that since the appellants' brief was found to be invalid, the invalidity also affects the appeal for which the brief was filed.
He then proceeded to dismiss the appellants' brief and appeal.
Before his recent appointment as Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology by President Bola Tinubu, the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal had dismissed the candidate Uche Nnaji's lawsuit. Nnaji was the APC's gubernatorial candidate.
In the appeal, Nnaji contested Governor Peter Mbah's victory, but on July 18, 2023, a three-member tribunal of the appellate court, led by Justice J.O.K. Oyewole, dismissed the appeal.
The petition lodged by Nnaji before the Justice K.M. Akano-led Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal was dismissed by the tribunal in its 20 June ruling, prompting him to seek redress from the appellate court.
The APC candidate, who is now a minister in Tinubu's administration, argued that Mbah was not constitutionally qualified to run for governor during the election because he purportedly presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Nnaji, who received 14,575 votes compared to Mbah's 160,895 votes and finished a distant fourth in the election, claimed that his PDP counterpart was not elected with the majority of lawful ballots cast.
However, his petition before the lower court and appeals before the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court were denied.
