Obaseki sued for ‘certificate forgery’

A suit has been filed against Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, over allegations of certificate forgery.

In the suit filed before a federal high court in Abuja, Edobor Williams, Ugbesia Abudu Godwin and Amedu Dauda Anakhu accused the governor of forging his bachelor of arts (B.A.) certificate in classical studies from the University of Ibadan.

They said the offence contravenes section 182(1)(i) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which therefore makes Obaseki “not qualified to run or seek the office of the governor of Edo state” in the forthcoming 2020 governorship election.

In an interview with Daily Trust, Alex Ejesieme, counsel to the governor, described the suit as frivolous and irrelevant.

He said the defence team is preparing the reply to challenge the plaintiffs in court next week.

This suit is coming less than a week after a federal high court in Abuja issued an interim order stopping Obaseki from arresting and prosecuting Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Edo state government had instituted a suit against Oshiomhole for an alleged breach of the state’s public procurement law during the construction of the Edo specialist hospital and supply of equipment for the hospital, while he was governor of the state.

Obaseki and Oshiomhole have been at loggerheads, and this has caused division within the APC in Edo.

Oshimhole’s faction of the APC has picked Osagie Ize-Iyamu who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its preferred governorship candidate in the 2020 election.