NYSC tenders evidence of Mbah’s forged discharge certificate at Enugu petitions tribunal

Embattled Governor Peter Mbah’s defence at the ongoing Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal took a steep turn, Friday, as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) tendered evidence of the governor’s fake Discharge Certificate.

It would be recalled that a Federal High Court, Abuja,  had Tuesday, set aside application for an interlocutory injunction restraining the NYSC from appearing before the Enugu State Election Petition Tribunal to give evidence on the forged Discharge Certificate of Governor Mbah in the petition filed by Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP).

At the last hearing of the tribunal, the subpoenaed NYSC had failed to show up citing a court order barring it from testifying at the court in defence of its earlier claim that Governor Mbah of the Peoples democratic Party (PDP) had forged his Discharge Certificate which he presented before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to obtain clearance to contest the March 18 governorship election in Enugu State.

NYSC had consistently maintained its stand that the embattled governor faked his certificate, and that the Corps did not issue the document paraded by Mbah.

Delivering his judgement, Tuesday, in the suit marked No. FHC/ABJ/CS/611/2023, Justice Inyang Ekwo declined the grant Peter Mbah, represented by his counsel, Emeka Ozoani SAN, the requested application for an interlocutory injunction restraining the NYSC from appearing before the Election Petition Trubunal to give evidence with respect to the forged Discharge Certificate No. A808297 presented by the governor to INEC.

In declining the application, Justice Ekwo told Ozoani to forget about the injunction and concentrate on the main suit.

The court adjourned the case to July 11, 2023 to hear the preliminary objection challenging the competence of the suit filed by the NYSC.

Meanwhile, at the resumed hearing of the Tribunal in Enugu, Friday, July 7, a representative of the NYSC took the stands at the court to tender documents backing its claims that Mbah’s certificate was fake and forged.

The witness representing the Director General of the NYSC was called to the stand, where he tendered evidence backing the agency’s claims that Governor Mbah’s Discharge Certificate purportedly issued by it was forged.

The witness representing the Director General of the NYSC, in the person of the Director of Certification, Aliyu Abdul Mohammed, was called to the stand, where he tendered evidence backing the agency’s claims that Governor Mbah’s Discharge Certificate purportedly issued by it was forged.

Four witnesses were called up to the stand by the Labour Party, including the NYSC representative, during Friday’s proceedings in Enugu.

At the Friday’s hearing, courtesy of (@ejykmykel1) report, the LP presented the NYSC discharge certificate as its first witness.

Among the documents also tendered by the NYSC are the alleged forged discharge certificate, as well as the original discharge certificate which Mbah ought to have collected, as well as a letter written by Oma and Partners, an Abuja-based law firm, which had asked the Corps to scrutinise the discharge certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), by the governor.

The Petitioners (Labour Party and Chijioke Edeoga), represented by Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN, who is the lead counsel, alongside Dr. Valerie Azinge, SAN, Ifeanyi Ogenyi Esq, and others, led the Petitioners Witness 1 (PW1) in evidence. The Petitioners Witness 1 is the Director of Certification, NYSC, Aliyu Abdul Mohammed, who adopted his written deposition on oath.

Awomolo sought to tender the witness’s deposition on oath as evidence before the tribunal.

The third respondent, PDP, counsel, Barr Anthony Ani, SAN, objected to the admissibility of the document and opted to move a motion dated and filed on the 7th day of July 2023, which seeks to pray the tribunal to strike out the written deposition on oath of the PW1 on the ground of incompetence.

The 1st respondent, INEC, as well as the 2nd respondent (Peter Mbah) aligned themselves with the submission of Ani and prayed the court to strike out the written deposition of Mohammed (PW1) for lack of competence.

Relying on the Court of Appeal decision in the case of ANDP & anor V INEC as well as that of Damina & anor V Adamu and ors, the respondents’ counsels asked the court to strike out the written deposition on oath of the PW1 for lack of competence.

In response the petitioners’ lawyers relying on the case of Ararume & anor V INEC, which according to them, is a conflicting decision with the authorities cited by the respondents’ counsel, asked the court to admit the written deposition on oath of the PW1.

In a short ruling, the tribunal admitted the document and reserved ruling on the objections raised by the respondents for final judgement.

The PW1 was then taken in for examination-in-chief.

Mohammed told the tribunal that he acted on a subpoena served on the Director General of the NYSC or any other official to appear before the tribunal for the purposes of giving evidence in order to clear some issues bothering on the certificate purportedly issued by the agency.

The subpoena was admitted in evidence without objection from the respondents and was marked as exhibit PTC/01/06.

Mohammed also tendered his official identity card as a staff of NYSC which was admitted in evidence and marked as exhibit PTC/01/07.

In paragraph three (3) of the Petitioners’ Witness’s deposition on oath, the witness stated that in obedience to the subpoena by the tribunal, he came with the authentic discharge certificate of the governor, as well as the one purportedly given to him.

The respondents’ counsel objected to the admissibility of the documents and reserved their reasons for final written addresses.

The tribunal admitted the documents and marked them as exhibits PTC/ 01/08 A and B.

The Petitioners also fielded another witness, an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Mary Nneoma Elijah, a principal partner in the law firm of Oma and Partners.

She is the Petitioners’ Witness 2.

The Petitioners’ counsel sought to tender her written deposition on oath dated and filed on 22 July, 2023, as evidence, which was objected to by the respondents’ counsel, citing the same grounds raised in the first stage.

The court admitted the document and reserved the ruling during judgement.

She also adopted the subpoena of the tribunal dated 21st day of June, 2023, which was admitted and marked as exhibit PTC/01/09.

One of the two grounds in the petition filed by the LP challenging the election of Mbah as governor is the presentation of a fake NYSC document by the latter, the other claim being the rigged election results from Nkanu East Local Government Area of the state during the March 18 poll.