Certificate Forgery: Appeal Court dismisses suit against Obaseki

The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division has dismissed the alleged University of Ibadan degree certificate forgery instituted by the All Progressives Congress,  (APC) to challenge the election of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State.

The court dismissed the suit for lacking in merit and awards N250, 000 cost in favour of Governor Obaseki

Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the federal high court in Abuja had on January 9, 2021, dismissed the alleged certificate forgery suit against Governor Obaseki.

The Judge had described the APC’s allegation as strange and like a story of an outsider telling a man in his house that he is not the father of a child.

But not satisfied with the high court decision, APC approached the Appeal Court and challenged the judgment of the lower court.

However delivering judgment in the appeal yesterday, Justice Stephen Adah held that the lower court was right in its findings and conclusion in the APC suit.

Justice Adah upheld the testimony of the Deputy Registrar, legal, Mr Abayomi Ajayi who confirmed that Obaseki attended the University of Ibadan in 1976 and fulfilled the requirement for admission.

He held that the evidence of the Deputy Registrar was direct in showing that Obaseki did not forge any certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to secure his clearance for participation in the governorship election.

Based on that, he said governor Obaseki fulfils all requirement to contest for the governorship position of Edo state.

Justice Adah further said that APC failed to prove the certificate forgery allegation and that the appeal was unmeritorious and dismissed it with N250, 000 costs in favour of governor Obaseki and another N50,000 each in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and INEC.

Reacting to the judgement, Governor Obaseki described it as a victory for democracy, equity, fairness and justice noting that it has further reassured his confidence in the judiciary as an impartial umpire.

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The judgement today by the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja on the certificate forgery case against me by the @OfficialAPCNg is a victory for democracy, equity, fairness and justice. It further reassures confidence in the judiciary as an impartial umpire.

— Godwin Obaseki (GGO) (@GovernorObaseki) March 18, 2021

Zainab Sa’id