The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Uche Nnaji, challenging the victory of Governor Peter Mbah in the last Enugu State governorship election. Governor Mbah was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the election.
In the election, Uche Nnaji, the APC candidate, secured a total of 14,575 votes, placing a distant fourth, while Governor Peter Mbah garnered 160,895 votes. Nnaji had petitioned the court, seeking to disqualify Governor Mbah, as well as the candidates of the Labour Party, Chijioke Edeoga, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Frank Nweke Jr. He alleged that these candidates were not qualified to contest the election, citing violations of the asset declaration law, among other claims.
The Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, led by Justice K.M Akano, dismissed Nnaji’s petition on June 20, 2023. Unsatisfied with this decision, Nnaji appealed to the Court of Appeal, requesting that the dismissed petition be sent back to the Tribunal for a hearing and determination.
However, the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal upheld the Tribunal’s decision, dismissing Nnaji’s suit and imposing a fine of N250,000 each against Nnaji and the APC.
The Supreme Court, in a judgment delivered by a five-member panel, ruled that the legal team of the APC and Nnaji had submitted an invalid brief of argument and failed to provide compelling reasons for the court to accept the incompetent brief. Justice Tijani Abubakar, in the lead judgment, noted that the invalidity of the appellant’s brief also affected the appeal itself, leading to the dismissal of both the brief and the appeal filed by the appellants.
