Mr. Godwin Obaseki, the Edo State governor, knows his fate today, Saturday, 9 January, 2020. The Federal High Court in Abuja will deliver a judgment in a case filed by the All Progresives Congress (APC) alleging that Godwin Obaseki forged certificate that he presented to the INEC as part of the requirement to run for the seat of Edo State governor.
A chieftain of the APC, Edobor Williams joined the APC to file the case aimed at disqualifying the state governor. Mr. Obaseki has been declared winner of the 19 September, 2020 election having satisfactorily defeated his closest rival, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
The trial judge Ahmed Mohammed chose Saturday as the judgement day last Thursday and Obaseki will be hoping to maintain his seat or lose it to the APC.
The plaintiffs (APC and its chieftain Mohammed) argued that the governor forged his first degree certificate that he said he got from the University of Ibadan in 1979 and that he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission as one of his educational credentials.
They said that the photocopy submitted did not contain the signature of the Registrar of the university and the date it was issued. Hence, the candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) should be disqualified.
Obaseki has defended himself through his legal counsel. He said that the registrar's signature and date the certificate was issued were removed from the photocopies he summited because the person who made the photocopies used A4, which is smaller than the size of the original certificate.
The INEC has remained neutral in the court proceedings. The electoral umpire has urged the court to deliver its judgment in one way or another.
As reported by the Premium Times, the University of Ibadan had affirmed the authenticity of the certificate submitted by Obaseki. The Deputy Registrar, Legal, of the institution, Mr. Abayomi Ajayi, on Tuesday confirmed that the copy of the first degree tendered by Obaseki was valid.
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