The Enugu Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has been requested by the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) to consider the certified true copies of BVAS data presented by the Labour Party candidate as evidence regarding the alleged overvoting in Nkanu East Local Government Area during the March 18 governorship elections in the state.

INEC, despite failing to provide some of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation Systems (BiVAS) machines used in certain areas, has asked the tribunal to accept the copies of the data provided by the commission to the Labour Party as valid evidence.

The petitioner, Chijioke Edeoga, concluded his case at the tribunal on Sunday and had previously lodged a complaint with INEC Chairman, accusing the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Chukwuemeka Chukwu, of disregarding a lawfully issued subpoena by refusing a forensic examination of the BiVAS machines. In response to attempts to evade the subpoena issued on June 26, 2023, the tribunal issued an oral subpoena on Saturday, compelling INEC to appear on Sunday with the BiVAS machines.

During the court proceedings, Mr. Eze Okafor, the INEC representative, did not provide a reason for failing to submit the 10 BiVAS machines as demanded by the tribunal. Consequently, the tribunal had to rely on the evidence provided by the Labour Party and Chijioke Edeoga to determine whether overvoting occurred in the affected areas. INEC arrived at the tribunal on Sunday at 9:00 am with only five BiVAS machines, which were reportedly used for voter accreditation in Igbo Eze North Local Government Area. However, the machines provided were either empty or not functioning, preventing the forensic expert from conducting an examination as planned.

In its petition, the Labour Party alleged that the vote count for Nkanu had been inflated from approximately 15,000 accredited voters to 32,000 votes, reflecting an increase of over 16,000 votes. The Electoral Act stipulates that votes can be invalidated in areas where overvoting is proven.

Chijioke Edeoga approached the tribunal seeking redress following the declaration of Peter Mbah from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 18, 2023 Governorship Elections in the state. Edeoga’s petition listed five grounds to support his claim as the validly elected candidate, including allegations of forgery of his NYSC discharge certificate and instances of suppressed votes in Udenu and Enugu South Local Government Areas. Additional claims involved cases of overvoting in certain electoral areas of Nkanu East Local Government Area and other discrepancies in Igbo Eze North Local Council.