Certificate Forgery Case Against Enugu Governor, Unconventional – LP

Edited By Georgina Humphrey

The Labour Party has described Monday’s ruling of the Abuja High Court on the NYSC certificate forgery case involving the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, as unconventional.

This is contained in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja.

The statement explains that the ruling of Justice Inyang Ekwo is yet another strange ruling of the court aimed at ridiculing the nation’s judiciary and undermining the nation’s democracy”.

“Justice Ekwo not only slammed a N5 million fine against NYSC and ordered it not to disown Mbah’s forged Certificate, but ruled that Mbah not only served but that the certificate he has was issued by NYSC.

“By the ruling, his Lordship in Abuja feigned ignorance of multiple pieces of evidence already produced in Courts to show that Mbah was a Chief of Staff to the Governor of Enugu State at the time he claimed he was performing National Service in a firm in Lagos”.

According to the statement the judge also refuses to recognize the fact that the forged Certificate Mbah is parading does not bear any resemblance in coding and fonts to those who passed out the year he claimed.

“Labour Party recalls how Mbah made frantic efforts through this very court to stop NYSC from coming to disown a forged certificate being carried in its name during the Tribunal hearing of his case in Enugu until an Appeal Court in Abuja ordered it to go.

“The same Justice Ekwo at the time when the Enugu Governorship election tribunal was constituted, granted Mr Peter Mbah of the PDP an exparte injunction that he sought which effectively barred NYSC from going to the tribunal to testify” Ifoh notes.

“The exparte order was illegally sustained beyond the permissible life of the exparte to the point where NYSC could not properly respond to the invitation of the tribunal to give testimony”.

“This state of affairs persisted until LP in mid-July approached the Court of Appeal which graciously ordered NYSC to obey the subpoena of the Enugu Governorship Election Tribunal”.

The statement stresses that by that ruling on Monday, the Abuja court is trying to use itself as a vehicle to destroy a credible federal institution like NYSC and warned that it will have far-reaching consequences.

It adds that the objective of the offbeat and curious ruling is essentially to ambush and weaken the case of well-laid points by its gubernatorial flag bearer, Chijoke Edeoga, whom the people of Enugu state voted for overwhelmingly and therefore asked the Judiciary to save itself from anything that will undermine the will of the people of Enugu state as freely expressed on March 8, 2023.

PR