From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Labour Party (LP) has vowed to do everything in its power to invalidate the election results of Mr. Peter Mbah, the governor-elect of Enugu State, by proving that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the election was fake.
The party described the Federal High Court’s order barring the NYSC from further commenting on the validity of the certificate being displayed by Mbah as “strange”. LP’s Acting National Publicity Secretary, Mr Obiora Ifoh, while speaking at a press conference, on Tuesday, in Abuja, accused Mbah of commencing syndicated actions to compromise every institution of the state, just to sustain himself in power. He queried why the governor-elect would need to go to court to stop people and institutions from talking about his NYSC certificate if it was genuine.
He said: “Mr. Peter Mbah wants to gag everybody from speaking about the forgery of the certificate. His people have also been boasting that the judge has assured them that once NYSC enters appearance in the suit, the order will be granted and NYSC cannot testify at the tribunal. You can imagine the type of character who wants to become the governor of Enugu State!
“Mr. Peter Mbah, if your certificate is genuine, why do you need several court pronouncements and forum shopping to validate it? The funny, but very painful implication, is that NYSC has been stopped by the Federal High Court from stating the fact that they did not issue to Mr. Peter Mbah the certificate he parades.
“In the coming days, the Labour Party will do all within its powers to prove that Mr. Peter Mbah was not qualified to contest the election of Governor of Enugu State, having presented a forged certificate to INEC and did not win the election. Thank you gentlemen and may God grant each and every one of us the grace and strength to make Nigeria better.”
To ensure that the judicial pronouncements of the court in the matter are seen as just, fair and untainted, the LP spokesman called on the presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, to recuse himself from further hearing the matter and remit the file back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge.
Ifoh said: “Otherwise, how will it be explained to the ordinary man that after Mr. Peter Mbah’s supporters boasted that the judge had assured them of an order such as this, the order is eventually granted? How will the people have confidence in the court?
“It is very unfortunate that the Inspector General of Police has developed cold feet in the investigation of the forgery allegations against Mr. Peter Mbah. It is also very nauseating to observe that, at a time the NYSC is celebrating its 50 years of beautiful records and existence, the present Director General of the Corps has decided to destroy a long history of reputation of the NYSC, by refusing to respond to the inquiry ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction to the AIG Zone 7.”
Ifoh disclosed that the party had decided to petition the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the Chairman, National Judicial Council, over the court orders being issued by judges in the case.
He said the LP will also petition the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to transfer the suit from the court handling it to another court, and for the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to investigate allegations of forum shopping by Mr. Peter Mbah and his lawyers. The party also plans to also appeal to the Inspector General of Police to immediately conclude investigation into the forgery allegation and write back to the court which ordered the investigation.
“We must all join hands as patriotic citizens to hold those who seek to lead us accountable. Forging public documents and compromising security and judicial institutions, in a bid to conceal the facts, must be condemned by all.
“By his own hands, on June 26, 2006, Mr. Peter Mbah wrote, in a statement under caution before the EFCC, that he served in Lagos during the 2002/2003 Batch A and that his place of primary assignment was in the Chambers of Nnaemeka P. Agu. At other times, Mr. Mbah has, also, at other times, stated that his primary assignment was in the Chambers of Victor Udeh of Udeh & Associates. Mr. Peter Mbah also released a letter purported to have been a clearance letter from Udeh & Associates, which was not signed by any known lawyer.
“Law firms do not sign letters, lawyers do. Where exactly did Mr. Peter Mbah serve? In the statement under reference, Mr. Peter Mbah insisted that Victor Udeh was never his boss, but just a family friend, yet the same Victor Udeh’s chambers purporting to clear him that he had conducted his NYSC assignment and should be paid by the Corps. How exactly did Mr. Peter Mbah got the certificate he issued to himself?” he questioned.