Alleged certificate forgery: Supreme Court says Obaseki duly elected, dismisses APC suit

The Supreme Court on Friday laid to rest litigations surrounding the election of Godwin Obaseki as Edo state governor in the September 19, 2020 governorship election.

This followed the dismissal of the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and one of its chieftains, Williams Edobor against Obaseki’s candidacy in the election, alleging certificate forgery and supplying false information to the National Independent Electoral Commission (UNEC) before his election as governor of the state.

Obaseki, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and INEC were listed as first to the third respondents.

The apex court in its unanimous decision held that the appeal lacked merit, and dismissed the suit accordingly.

The five-member panel of justices of the apex court held that the appellants failed to prove their case against Obaseki.

Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment, held that the appellants abysmally failed to substantiate their forgery allegation against the governor.

The court dismissed the appeal and awarded N1 million cost against the appellants.

In the run-up to the disputed governorship election in September 2020, the APC had filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, alleging that the Obaseki forged his Ordinary level (O’level) and university degree certificates which he tendered to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as part of his qualifications for the election.

The appellants had asked the court to disqualify the first defendant, who won the election, in the event that he forged his university certificate obtained from the University of Ibadan (UI) in 1979.

However, in a judgement on January 9, 2021, the trial judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, held that the appellants provided no iota of evidence before the court to establish that Obaseki forged either his O’level certificate or his degree certificate and therefore dismissed the suit.

Dissatisfied with the court’s decision, the APC had approached the Court of Appeal.

In a March 18, 2021, judgement, the appellate court held that the lower court was right in its findings and conclusions.

The court also held that the appeal lacked merit, and dismissed the suit accordingly.

The appellants had procceded to the apex court, hoping to upturn the election of Obaseki.

However, that hope was dashed Friday, by the judgment which put paid to any further litigation on the matter.