By Abiola Olawale
An Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed the certificate forgery suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State.
In its ruling, the Appeal Court dismissed the suit on the grounds that it lacked merit, thereby upholding the candidacy of Obaseki, who contested in the 2020 governorship election of Edo State, under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It would be recalled that the APC, alongside one of its members, Williams Edobor, on July 14, 2020 filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking to nullify the candidacy of Obaseki, over alleged certificate forgery.
The APC had argued that Obaseki, who won the 2020 governorship election in Edo State was not qualified as he allegedly submitted a forged University of Ibadan (UI) certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in support of his nomination as a candidate in the 2020 governorship election.
APC also alleged that Obaseki had only three credits in his O’level result, adding that he failed to meet the stated requirements of at least 5 credits (including English and Mathematics) before being admitted into any University in the country.
However, Honorable Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court on January 9, 2021, had dismissed the suit on the grounds that APC failed to proved the allegations levelled against Obaseki.
However, APC who was dissatisfied with the Court’s ruling, appealed the dismissal of its certificate forgery suit at the Appeal Court in Abuja.
