...Says allegation last kick of a dying horse

The Enugu State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council has denied allegation of forgery of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate against its governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Mbah, describing it as the conjecture of an indolent opposition and the last kick of a dying horse.

The Campaign Council said the opposition in Enugu had since come to terms with the fact that they had no prospects in the 2023 governorship election and therefore resorted to smear campaigns.

In the statement issued in Enugu on Monday, the Director of Public Communications and Spokesperson of the Enugu State PDP Campaign Council, Nana Ogbodo, said, “there is no truth whatsoever to the allegation”.

The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a press conference by a faceless group in Abuja, which claimed to have conducted a check at the NYSC under the Freedom of Information Act 2011, which purportedly showed that our governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Mbah, submitted a forged NYSC certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“We make bold to say that Dr. Peter Mbah was duly mobilised for the one-year mandatory national youth service in Lagos in 2002, duly completed the exercise and was issued with an NYSC discharge certificate.

“We state unequivocally that these purveyors of malicious falsehood are the real forgers, as everything about the letter they claimed to have emanated from the NYSC bears all the imprimaturs of forgery; the language too inelegant and unofficial to have emanated from the NYSC.

“We have equally observed that the said malicious press statement was not signed by any official of the faceless group.

“We call on media organisations and interested Nigerians to approach the NYSC to confirm the veracity of the purported letter”.

"We are however taking steps in accordance with the provisions of the law to bring the perpetrators to book".

The Enugu PDP Campaign Council recalled that the opposition had tried their hands in other malicious and criminal falsehoods, including forgery of court processes to malign and bring down Dr. Peter Mbah.

“Rather than present and market their manifestos to the Enugu electorate, they had earlier forged court processes and also filed frivolous and malicious lawsuits claiming that Dr. Mbah had entered into a plea of guilt and plea bargain, hence not qualified to stand for election.

“We call on the Nigerian public to disregard this latest perfidy as the umpteenth mischief by an indolent opposition and last kick of a dying horse”, the statement concluded.

NANA OGBODO

Director of Public Communications and Spokesperson, Enugu State PDP Campaign Council