The Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has issued an order for Governor Peter Mbah to appear before it on Friday. The order is in response to allegations of forgery regarding his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate. The application for Governor Mbah's appearance was filed by Elder Christopher Agu, the candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), through their counsel, Barr Alex Amujiogo. Elder Agu claims that Governor Mbah was not qualified to contest the election.
During the hearing, the PRP's counsel informed the tribunal that Governor Mbah was supposed to be present as a subpoenaed witness. However, according to the affidavit submitted by the tribunal's bailiff, it has been challenging to serve Governor Mbah with the summons. As a result, Amujiogo presented an application requesting the tribunal to allow a substituted service of the summons on Governor Mbah through his counsel.
Although the three respondents, namely the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Mbah, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), opposed the application, arguing that it should have been presented as a motion supported by an affidavit during the pre-trial session, the tribunal overruled their objections. Chairman of the Panel, Justice K. M. Akano, ordered that the subpoena be served on Governor Mbah through his counsel and instructed him to appear before the tribunal on June 23, 2023.
Prior to this development, Elder Christopher Agu, the PRP gubernatorial candidate, testified before the tribunal as PW2. Barr. Aliu Muhammed, an official of the NYSC from the National Secretariat in Abuja, also appeared on behalf of the Director-General of the Corps. He presented an affidavit declaring that a Federal High Court order in Abuja prevented them from tendering the disclaimer the Corps issued against Governor Mbah's certificate.
Amujiogo, the PRP lawyer, stated to journalists after the tribunal's session that their witness had provided a clear account of what transpired during the election. He further urged the tribunal to set aside the purported election results in favor of Peter Mbah, the Governor. Regarding the issue of the subpoena against Barrister Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, the tribunal requested his appearance to address certain matters related to his NYSC certificate and other relevant issues. However, it was reported that he did not appear in the tribunal that day, and the bailiff informed the tribunal that he had been unable to serve Governor Mbah the subpoena due to difficulties in locating him and security restrictions. Consequently, the tribunal, after Amujiogo's application, granted permission for the bailiff or himself to serve Governor Mbah through his counsel. The subpoena was duly served to his lawyer, Ik Onuoma, in court that day.
Governor Mbah is required to comply with the tribunal's summon by personally appearing before it on the designated date, Friday.
