APC suffers big loss as Court of Appeal dismisses suit challenging Obaseki’s certificates

- Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state has again secured victory in court

- The appeal court on Thursday, March 18, struck out a suit filed against him by the APC

- APC had claimed that Obaseki submitted forged certificates to the INEC before the last governorship election in the state

PAY ATTENTION: Join Legit.ng Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the January 9, 2021 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja which affirmed the authenticity of the academic certificates presented by Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state.

The Nation reports that in a judgment on Thursday, March 18, a three-man panel of the court led by Justice Stephen Adah, was unanimous in upholding the argument by Obaseki’s legal team, led by Ken Mozia (SAN), that the appeal by the APC and one of its members was without merit.

Legit.ng gathered that the judgment was on the appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/71/2021 filed by the APC and Edobor Williams.

The Court of Appeal held that the Federal High Court was right in its judgment to have held that APC failed to prove its claim that Obaseki presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to contest the last governorship election.

This Day also reports that while upholding the judgment of the Federal High Court, the Court of Appeal further held that the judgment by Justice Mohammed was without any ambiguity.

It also awarded N250,000 costs in favour of Obaseki, and N50,000 each for his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and INEC.

The APC and Williams had claimed, in the suit marked: FHC/B/CS/74/2020, that Obaseki forged his West African School Certificate O/level and A/level, and the first-degree certificate from the University of Ibadan (UI), which he submitted to the INEC in his bid to contest the September 19, 2020 governorship election.

Justice Mohammed had said that a fundamental flaw in the case of the plaintiffs is that while the plaintiffs alleged forgery against Obaseki, the evidence they brought was completely at variance with the allegation.

The appellate court also upheld the testimony of the deputy registrar, legal, Abayomi Ajayi who confirmed that Obaseki attended the University of Ibadan in 1976 and fulfilled the requirement for admission into the institution.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Court of Appeal reserved judgment in the appeal challenging the certificate presented by Governor Obaseki to contest the 2020 governorship election in Edo state.

It was reported that the court sitting in Abuja made the reservation after listening to arguments from both parties on Monday, March 8.

.....

Wale Akinola is a passionate journalist and researcher. He works as a senior political/current affairs editor at Legit.ng. He holds both B. A and Master’s degree in Communications and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan. He also holds a Diploma Certificate in Peace Journalism. He has over 15 years of work experience in both print and online media. He derives joy in keeping the public abreast of current happenings locally and internationally through his writings.

Source: Legit.ng