The initial declaration by INEC on March 22 named Mbah as the winner with 160,895 votes, surpassing his closest rival, Chijioke Jonathan Edeoga of the Labour Party, who secured 157,552 votes in the Governorship poll held on March 18.

The Labour Party and Edeoga contested the results at the tribunal, listing INEC, Mbah, and PDP as the first, second, and third defendants, respectively. Their petition hinged on three main grounds:

1. Mbah's alleged disqualification due to filing a forged NYSC discharge certificate under oath.

2. Irregularities in the conduct of the election, including the non-use of BVAS machines for accreditation, the interchange of results, and incidents of electoral violence.

3. Discrepancies in the counting of votes, with claims of over-voting and incorrect tabulations, particularly in Mbah's Owo Ward and Ugbawka 1 Ward in Nkanu East LGA.

However, on September 21, the tribunal, led by Justice Kudirat Morayo Akano, unanimously ruled in favor of the defendants, dismissing the petition for lacking merit and citing weak, hearsay, and concocted evidence.

Undeterred, Edeoga and the Labour Party pursued the matter to the Appeal Court, which on November 10, upheld the tribunal's decisions in their entirety. The three-man panel resolved all grounds of the petition in favor of the respondents, confirming Peter Mbah as duly elected.

Unhappy with this outcome, the Labour Party and Edeoga approached the Supreme Court, seeking, among other things, the disqualification of the PDP candidate. The Supreme Court's decision on this matter will be eagerly awaited as it brings this legal saga to its final stage. Stay tuned for further updates on the Supreme Court's ruling and its implications for Enugu State's political landscape.