Re: the Winner of the Governorship Election in Enugu State still up in the Air

• As written by one Emeka Ugwuonye

By Nwomaga Nwedo

Emeka Ugwuonye is once again pontificating on a matter before the Supreme Court, Chijioke Edeoga’s frivolous petition, the same way he had done while the same matter was before the Enugu Election Petition Tribunal and the Appeal Court, which both courts dismissed for want of merit.

Reading through the make-believe string of humdrum Ugwuonye scribbled, I was appalled at Emeka Ugwuonye’s reason on why the Supreme Court should reverse the verdict of the tribunal which was upheld by the Appeal Court. Emeka held that because over70 million Nigerians had passed through the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, there was the need to preserve the NYSC as a public institution. It sounds preposterous that the only reason the Supreme Court should upturn the verdict of the tribunal as upheld by the Appeal Court is to save a public institution whose inept and corrupt handlers have mismanaged and exposed to obloquy. In Ugwuonye’s thoughts, it would be appropriate to willfully damage Mbah’s reputation and ruin his career in order to save and preserve a monument of national shame, a corrupt public institution replete with corrupt officials. What manner of reasoning is this? Instead of asking that such a corrupt public institution be scrapped or its management overhauled, Ugwuonye curiously asks that Mbah’s mandate be ceded to Edeoga in order to save NYSC from the shame its management brought upon it. This sounds like W. B. Yeats’ “Modest Proposal” that to ease poverty among the Irish, they should sell their babies for food. We know that NYSC is corrupt and that Mbah’s certificate is genuine but we have to save NYSC by sacrificing Mbah to its institutional corruption when Mbah’s mandate is ceded to Edeoga, Emeka seems to be saying. That is absurdly unfortunate. Isn’t it?

The NYSC certificate forgery claims against Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State had been laid to the cesspit of lies and mischief by the Department of State Services(DSS ) and a Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, both of whom indicted NYSC for malicious misrepresentation of facts against Mbah, institutional corruption and ineptitude,having incontrovertible evidence to the fact that Mbah’s NYSC certificate number A808297 which NYSC repudiated was actually issued by the NYSC. The Court fined NYSC N5 million for this gross malfeasance. It is of note that till date, NYSC has not appealed this ruling, which of course implies admission of liability. As a matter of fact, NYSC has nothing else to advance, having been striped naked.

Ordinarily, a matter before the court is deemed sub judice and should not be discussed outside the court. But Ugwuonye and the Edeoga camp think that by writing such insipid emotional narratives, and fictions as they are wont to do, and had done while the matter lasted at the tribunal and Appeal Court, they would be able to sway the minds of the judges to pander to their empty claims and lies. Unfortunately, judges do not take evidence from emotions; they are impervious to such narratives; they rather weigh the evidence as provided by both parties on the scale of justice and deliver judgment forthrightly. That was what played out at the tribunal and Appeal Court. The Supreme Court as the highest Court in the land is peopled by experienced judges who have the expertise to sift justice from the the labyrinth of lies intertwined with emotional narratives, deliberate falsehood, malicious misrepresentation of facts, make-believe and fictitious narratives. Of course, the Supreme Court shall uphold the seamless flow of justice on this matter.

It is either that Edeoga hired Emeka Ugwuonye to do propaganda for him or that Emeka has an axe to grind with Governor Peter Mbah, and, so, would concoct anything no matter how glaringly unreasonable it could be to nail Mbah and rob him of his mandate,.The question begging for answer is why Edeoga did not hire Ugwuonye to represent him at the courts, or could it be that the story about Ugwuonye having been debarred from practising law in Nigeria as we read on the Internet is true? If the carcass of vulture were good meat, the first person would eat it. The Internet is replete with many alleged crimes attributed to Ugwuonye. If they are true, then one wonders why Edeoga would want to associate with such a criminal. What value would Emeka add to Edeoga but mere nuisance? If that is the case, does it not point to Edeoga’s character and value orientation?

Ndi Enugu apparently made their choice of their governor on March 18, 2023. Peter Mbah presented his manifesto to the people, and they bought into it because in it is the clear blueprint for the exponential growth of the Enugu economy and total eradication of poverty in the state to zero per cent headcount index. Edeoga had no manifesto, unlike his colleague in Abia State, Alex Otti of Labour Party, who had a 42-page manifesto sold to Abia people, something that led to his election as Abia State governor. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party, endorsed Alex Otti, but avoided Edeoga, the Enugu State governorship candidate of Labour Party, as one would a hot iron for reason of Edeoga’s apparent incompetence, lack of character and capacity. How then would this incompetence be foisted on Enugu State on the pretext of spurious claim to NYSC certificate forgery against Peter Mbah?

The Supreme Court shall preserve the seamless flow of justice from the tribunal, knowing full well that the allegation of forgery claims against Mbah is but a fluke, a mischievous misrepresentation of facts by a compromised public institution as proven by the DSS investigation and the verdict of a Federal High Court seated in Abuja and presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, as well as the Enugu Election Petition Tribunal and the Appeal Court, for as the Holy Book holds, out of two or three witnesses, the truth is established.