Enugu Gov’ship: CSO Demands Probe Into Alleged Judicial Process Abuse

A civil society organisation, Make A Difference Initiative (MADI), has accused the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, George Ogara, of using judicial processes to defame the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Mbah.

Executive director of MADI, Lemmy Ughegbe, and a director in the CSO, Babawale Okunola, while briefing journalists at a press conference in Abuja, alleged that Ogara supplied false information to mislead the court and defame Mbah.

They asked the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) to immediately investigate Ogara for gross violation of the rules of professional conduct for legal practitioners.

Mbah had in January, filed a petition against Ogara and another legal practitioner, Ejike Obumneme, for filing and promoting a suit that they allegedly know or reasonably ought to know is false and intended to mislead the court and maliciously injure his person.

The petition followed a suit filed by Obumneme on behalf of Felix Ugwu and others seeking Mbah’s disqualification from the 2023 governorship election on grounds that he made a plea bargain and a plea of guilty also entered for him in Charge No. FHC/L/09C/2007 by the Federal High Court on July 7, 2015.

According to the suit, the alleged judgement makes Mbah a convict and ineligible to stand for a governorship election.

Fielding questions from journalists, Ughegbe condemned the continued attempt by some desperate and unscrupulous judicial officers to undermine the country’s electoral process and democracy by their misuse of the judiciary, abuse of court processes, and flagrant breach of the Nigeria Bar Association’s Rules of Professional Conduct 2007.

He said, “This is vividly exemplified by the malicious suits filed for some persons by one Ejike Obumneme Esq, a legal practitioner and obviously masterminded by one George Ogara, said to be the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu obviously to gain an undue political advantage over the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the same state, Dr. Peter Mbah.

“In this instance, Ejike Obumneme filed a suit in the Federal High Court Abuja on behalf of Felix Ugwu & Others in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2257/2022 seeking a declaration that by the express provisions of Section 182(1)€ of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Dr. Peter Mbah, is ineligible to contest election to the office of Governor of Enugu State until after a period ten years from 7th day of July 2015.

“They alleged that he made a plea-bargain and a plea of guilty was entered on his behalf on July 7, 2015 in Charge No. FHC/L/09C/2007 supposedly preferred against him by the Federal High Court, hence  he is an ex-convict.

“The plaintiffs further alleged that Justice M.N Yunusa of the Federal High Court found Peter Mbah guilty in the said Charge No. FHC/L/09C/2007 and consequently pronounced sentence of forfeiture of assets on him.

“However, a Certified True Copy of court ruling obtained by us clearly show that Peter Mbah did not undergo any trial, let alone enter into any plea-bargain, as he was discharged from the said suit about two years before the said plea-bargain of July 7, 2015.

“Clearly, those facts were to Ogara’s and Obumneme’s knowledge false. The only plausible explanation is that George Ogara, who is the deputy governorship candidate of the APC party in Enugu State, consciously created the court processes based on falsehood in order to malign and gain an electoral advantage over Dr. Peter Mbah, who is his rival in the forthcoming election.

“These constitute a clear breach of Rules 1, 15, 24, and 32 of the Rules of Professional Conduct 2007 of the Rules of Professional Conduct 2007. It is therefore commendable that Dr. Peter Mbah has petitioned the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) to bring l into the matter and bring the full weight of the Rules to bear on Ejike Obumneme Esq. and George Ogara Esq.

“We are therefore joining other patriots and lovers of democracy to call on the LPDC to quicken the adjudication of this matter. The 2023 governorship election is a few weeks away from now.

“It is in the interest of the sanctity of both our electoral process and the legal profession that both Obumneme and Ogara do not go scot-free if indeed they have breached the Rules and ethics of their profession.”

Comrade Fidelis Edeh, Director-General of APC Governorship Campaign Organisation in Enugu State Nwakaube Uche Nnaji, in his reaction, insisted that as a campaign organisation, they were not a party to any suit challenging the candidacy of Mbah.

He noted however that the right thing to do is for the parties to be taken to court to defend themselves.