Jonathan Chijioke Edeoga , right, and Peter Mbah

The Enugu State Stakeholders Forum (ESSF) ended its End of Year meeting at Nike Lake Hotel and Resort in Enugu yesterday with a resolution that the ongoing crisis of governance in the state will end when the Supreme Court gives a judgment on the March 18 governorship election that aligns with the votes cast by the Enugu people.

The resolution is contained in a statement signed by the ESSF president, Professor Joe Aneke, and the secretary, Dr Ifeanyi Agbo, and made available to the media this afternoon.

The Labour Party (LP) governorship, Jonathan Chijioke Edeoga, a lawyer and journalist, is at the Supreme Court with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Mbah, whom the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) controversially declared victorious in the polls.

“The Supreme Court holds the key to end the prevailing atmosphere of gloom, doom, and despondency throughout our state since the election”, the stakeholders declared.

“Our people are confident that the Supreme Court where such eminent sons of Enugu State as The Honourable Justice Anthony Aniagolu, The Honourable Phillip Nnaemeka Agu, and The Honourable Augustine Nnamani, one of the first Senior Advocates of Nigeria, served with knowledge, learning, wisdom, integrity, and passion, will do the right thing merely by the current members obeying their conscience, no matter the pressure from all manner of buccaneers”.

The Enugu stakeholders asserted that the “Labour Party won all five elections held in the state in the 2023 general vote fair and square, namely, the presidential, National Assembly, and State House of Assembly as well as governorship elections”.

Since the PDP was pronounced the winner of the gubernatorial vote, according to the stakeholders, insecurity has grown to a scale unknown in the state’s history and the state government has been battling with civil servants and also traders, leading to violent clashes between traders and government agents that have left an unknown number of traders dead in Enugu City and beyond.

The ESSF described the state government’s decision to lock out some traders from their shops in these economically challenging times as unconscionable due to the traders’ refusal of Mbah’s autocratic leadership and lack of legitimacy.

Observing that the Supreme Court is not for sale to the highest bidder,  the stakeholders accused Mbah, who was charged with corruption by the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) when he was the Chief of Staff to Governor Chimaraoke Nnamani while purportedly doing his mandatory National Youth Service (NYSC) programme, at the same in Lagos, of “festering a culture of corruption everywhere.

“He borrowed N10 billion from Fidelity Bank and N3 billion from Polaris Bank under the guise of refinancing his Pinnacle Oil and Gas company in Lagos, but has been using the money to corrupt INEC and the judiciary.”