Court clears Obaseki from certificate forgery suit by APC

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Saturday cleared Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State from the certificate forgery suit filed against him by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in his judgment in Abuja on Saturday, dismissed the suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and am APC stalwart, Williams Edobor, against the governor.

The APC and Edobor had in the suit accused Governor Obaseki of presenting a forged certificate to seek re-election in the Edo State governorship election conducted on September 19, 2020.

The plaintiffs had argued that  the said document was purportedly issued by the University of Ibadan, while the governor presented same to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which conducted the poll.

In his judgement, Justice Mohammed held that the plaintiffs relied on the photocopied document presented by Governor Obaseki without contacting the university to verify the authenticity of the certificate.

The Judge maintained that no iota of truth was brought before the court by the plaintiffs who alleged forgery, saying it was a criminal matter, but the claimants were unable to prove their case.

The judge stated that the Deputy Registrar (Legal) of the University of Ibadan had given evidence in the suit that the university duly issued the certificate to Governor Obaseki.

The Deputy Registrar was said to have admitted that Governor Obaseki was duly and properly admitted to study Classics which was later renamed Classical Studies in 1976 and graduated in 1979.

Justice Mohammed declared, therefore, that the plaintiffs failed to prove their allegations of forgery against Governor Obaseki and dismissed the case.

The judge did not award any cost against the plaintiffs.