Ahead of the judgment of the Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal slated for Thursday, 21st September, 2023, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the March 18 gubernatorial election, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, has secretly admitted that he lost the election to the incumbent Governor Peter Mbah, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Hon. Edeoga, who admitted that the results of the election turned out in a way he never expected due to sabotage from Isi Uzo, Uzo Uwani, Igbo-Etiti, and other parts of the Old Nsukka zone where he considered his greatest strongholds due to cultural affiliation and political sympathy, added that those that betrayed him by voting for the PDP were some of the reasons behind his flop at the election.
Confiding with members of his inner caucus at his Golf Estate Enugu home where they evaluated their chances at the tribunal, Edeoga said he regretted choosing the legal team that argued his case, lamenting that they committed grave errors that hit the final nail in the coffin of their petition.
The Labour Party governorship candidate further bemoaned the testimony of the NYSC’s Director of Corps Certification, Mr. Ibrahim Muhammad, who told the court that Governor Mbah was mobilized to serve, reported for service, and got posted to his Place of Primary Assignment as against their closed door discussion to deny ever mobilizing the governor for service.
Edeoga, who said he still had hope having “settled our way out through His Excellency, Chief Nnia Nwodo, and our strong relationship with Azinge and members of the judiciary”, disclosed that his monies in different hard currencies had been handed over to some “facilitators in cash to do the work for us and clear the legal battle”.
He, however, revealed that if the judgment went against his expectation, he would be forced with no other choice but to go after the facilitators that collected the hard currencies from him, a term he used to refer to a third party negotiating judgment for him.
Presently, sources close to Hon. Edeoga said they had been entertaining growing fears that the judgment of the tribunal might go against them after “several hours of analyses and evaluations of all the legal issues canvassed, arguments of the parties, inconsistencies and contradictions of our witnesses in the face of the recent judgment of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal which vehemently dismissed the petitions of Mr. Peter Obi and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; both of Labour Party and the PDP”.
“It appears there is no hope for us at the tribunal. Even Hon. Edeoga himself is worried that the money spent to clear all the legal hurdles and even get those judges to be friendly is not going to yield much result as it is glaring that our legal team also committed unpardonable blunders.
“Our case may be dismissed tomorrow. We are afraid even though we foresaw it coming. Whatever be the case, a close ally of Edeoga, who does not want his name on print, said.
