The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Uche Nnaji, in the last governorship election in Enugu State, Nigeria. The appeal sought to nullify the victory of Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election.
In the election, the APC candidate received 14,575 votes and came fourth, while Peter Mbah of the PDP secured 160,895 votes.
Nnaji’s appeal was based on various grounds, including the disqualification of Mbah and other candidates from the Labour Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance, alleging violations of the asset declaration law.
The Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal dismissed Nnaji’s petition on June 20, 2023. Unsatisfied with this decision, Nnaji took the case to the Court of Appeal, seeking to have the petition reinstated for further consideration.
However, the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal upheld the tribunal’s decision and dismissed Nnaji’s suit, imposing a fine of N250,000 on Nnaji and the APC.
In its recent judgment, the Supreme Court, consisting of a five-member panel, found that the legal team of the APC and Nnaji had filed an invalid brief of argument and failed to provide sufficient reasons for allowing the appeal with the incompetent brief. The lead judgment, delivered by Justice Tijani Abubakar, stated that the invalidity of the appellants’ brief of argument ultimately affected the substantive appeal. As a result, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal.