Posted by The Labour Party, LP has described the Abuja High Court’s decision in the case of the forged NYSC certificate involving the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, as “bizarre and unconventional.”
According to the LP, the “offbeat and curious” verdict was made to undermine the party’s gubernatorial candidate Chijoke Edeoga’s well-reasoned argument.
Obiora Ifoh, the party’s national publicity secretary, responded on Wednesday with a statement.
On Monday, an Abuja High Court, according to a report by BANKPAWA, dismissed NYSC’s claims that Mbah forged his discharge certificate.
Ifoh claims that Justice Inyang Ekwo’s decision is just the latest in a string of bizarre court decisions that are an attempt to undermine our democracy and bring the nation’s judicial system into disrepute.
According to the party, the judiciary should protect itself against attempts to subvert the free will of the people of Enugu State, as expressed in the most recent gubernatorial election.
If the Party is to be believed,
The Abuja judge “pretended not to know many facts about the case,” including the fact that the Lagos Court of Appeal had heard the matter the same day he issued his unusual ruling.
It warned of dire implications if the Abuja court was indeed seeking to use itself as a vehicle to undermine a reputable federal agency like the NYSC.
It read, in relevant part,
“The Abuja Court pretended not to know many facts about the case, including that it’s a subject that came up before the Court of Appeal in Lagos the same day he delivered the strange verdict.
“By the ruling, his Lordship in Abuja pretended not to be aware of the several pieces of evidence already submitted in courts demonstrating that Mbah was a Chief of Staff to the Governor of Enugu State at the time he claimed he was completing National Service in a firm in Lagos. The judge also ignored the fact that Mbah’s fake certificate doesn’t look like any other diploma from the year he claims he graduated.
After Mr. Peter Mbah of the PDP requested an exparte injunction, Justice Ekwo granted it, thereby preventing NYSC from appearing before the Enugu Governorship Election Tribunal to testify. The exparte order was unjustly sustained beyond the allowable life of the exparte to the point where NYSC could not properly reply to the invitation of PRP to provide a witness.
Until LP petitioned the Court of Appeal in the middle of July, when it graciously ordered NYSC to comply with the subpoena of the Enugu Governorship Election Tribunal, the situation remained as described above.
The Labour Party has warned that the Abuja court’s decision on Monday will have far-reaching effects, saying that the court is using itself as a vehicle to undermine a respectable federal agency like NYSC.
Several legal authorities of superior courts held that the issuing authority stays final on authenticating certificates, which was ignored in Justice Ekwo’s ruling.
“The Labour Party claimed that the objective of this quirky and odd verdict is simply to ambush and weaken the case of well-laid points by its gubernatorial flag bearer, Hon. Chijoke Edeoga, whom the voting people of Enugu State voted for massively.
Since the people of Enugu State freely expressed their will to a large extent on March 8, 2023, the Labour Party has advised the Judiciary to avoid doing anything that could undermine that will.