Court of Appeal dismisses APC’s certificate forgery suit against Obaseki

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

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja had on January 9, dismissed the suit against 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.

APC approached the appellate court to challenge the judgment. Delivering judgment in the appeal, Justice Stephen Adah held that the lower court was right in it’s findings and conclusions.

Justice Adah upheld the testimony of the Deputy Registrar, Legal, University of Ibadan, Mr 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 Ajayi was direct in showing that 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.