On Friday 22nd December 2023, the legal battle on the actual winner of Enugu State Governorship election came to an end as the Supreme Court in a judgement declared the incumbent Governor of Enugu State His Excellency Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah as the winner of the election held in March 2023.
Peter Mbah contested under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) after emerging as the flag bearer of his party ahead of the Governorship election in the State. In the March 2023 Governorship election held in the seventeen Local Government Areas that make up Enugu State, INEC declared Mbah as the winner of the Election leading to his swearing-in as the Executive Governor of Enugu State on 29th May 2023.
The candidate of the Labour Party in the election Barr Chijioke Edeoga who came second in the election approached the election petition tribunal to challenge the INEC declaration of Peter Mbah as the winner of the Governorship election in Enugu State. In a judgement delivered by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal (GEPT) in Enugu State, Edeoga’s appeal was dismissed.
He approached the Federal Court of Appeal in Lagos to appeal the judgment of the Tribunal and file his case to be recognized as the winner of the election. In a judgment delivered by the Appeal Court, Peter Mbah won the case as the duly elected governor of Enugu State.
Edeoga and his legal team in a bid to exhaust all the legal means to pursue their case approached the apex court in Nigeria to challenge the declaration of INEC, the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal and Appeal Court ruling recognizing Dr Peter Mbah as the winner of Enugu State Governorship election.
Barr Chijioke Edeoga and Dr Peter Mbah are both from Enugu East Senatorial District but they are not from the same Local Government Area. The former is from Isi Uzo LGA while the latter is from Nkanu East LGA.
In a judgment delivered by the judges at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the legal battle is over on the issue of the winner of the Enugu State Governorship Election as Peter Mbah and his legal team won the case at the Supreme Court where Edeoga filed his last appeal.