Edo Election: ‘Why We Can’t Probe, Disqualify Obaseki Over Certificate’

“Only the courts can disqualify Governor Godwin Obaseki on the basis of the certificate he submitted for re-election”.

The above disclosure was made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that the certificates submitted are deemed valid unless the court proves otherwise.

The electoral body also mentioned that it was unable to examine the originality and validity or otherwise of the contested certificate / document submitted to the governorship election commission by Obaseki because it was outside its responsibility.

The People’s Democratic Party acknowledged that there were visible errors in the certificate of Obaseki, but clarified that it was during the filling of the election forms in 2016 that Obaseki mistakenly and erroneously wrote 1976 in a portion of the form for the graduation year that was the year of his admission to the University of Ibadan.

PDP however justified the error in Obaseki ‘s certificate on the photocopier mechanism, saying that “the original certificate was issued in A5 size.

According to the party, “In order to connect the photocopy of the certificate to Form CF001, the size of the photocopier was reduced to A4 and, in the process, some certificate information was left out”.

Responding, Mr. Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, INEC ‘s lead counsel, said, “The information presented by the third respondent (Mr. Godwin Obaseki) in the affidavit and the documents submitted by him as a candidate for election in the INEC nomination form (Form C.F. 001) is presumed to be manifestly true or prima facie correct unless and only if the contrary is proven or found false by an order from the court.”