Court of Appeal dismisses certificate forgery case against Obaseki

19 Mar Court of Appeal dismisses certificate forgery case against Obaseki

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday dismissed the alleged University of Ibadan degree certificate forgery suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State.

The court dismissed the suit for lacking in merit and awarded N250, 000 cost in favour of Mr Obaseki.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the judge, Ahmed Mohammed, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had on January 9 dismissed the alleged certificate forgery suit against Mr Obaseki.

The judge had described the APC’s allegation as strange saying it was like an outsider telling a man in his house that he is not the father of a child.

Apparently not satisfied with the decision of the lower court, the APC approached the appellate court to challenge the judgment.

Delivering judgment in the appeal, Stephen Adah held that the lower court was right in its findings and conclusions.

Mr Adah, the judge, upheld the testimony of the Deputy Registrar, Legal, University of Ibadan, Abayomi Ajayi, who confirmed that Obaseki attended the university in 1976 and fulfilled the requirement for admission to study Classical Studies.

The judge maintained that the evidence of Mr Ajayi was direct in showing that Mr Obaseki did not forge the certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to secure his clearance for participation in the governorship election.

The appellate court held that the APC failed to prove the certificate forgery allegation and that the appeal was unmeritorious.

The court subsequently dismissed the appeal with N250, 000 cost in favour of Obaseki and N50,000 each in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and INEC. (NAN)