Alleged Certificate Forgery: Court Dismisses Obaseki’s Application For Stay Of Proceedings

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed an application filed by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, seeking a stay of proceedings in the certificate forgery case instituted against him.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and a chieftain of the party, Williams Edobor, had filed a suit against Governor Obaseki, accusing him of forging the first-degree certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enable him to contest the September 19 governorship election in Edo State.

The plaintiff also claimed that there are discrepancies in the subject Obaseki claimed he passed in his West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exam.

Obaseki in his appeal had asked the federal high court in Abuja to suspend the case indefinitely on the grounds that he had filed an application at the appellate court.

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Through his counsel, Ken Mozia, Governor Obaseki had challenged the competence of APC’s reply to his defence, asking the court to remove some paragraphs in the plaintiffs’ statement of reply.

But in a ruling delivered on December 2, the presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, dismissed the governor’s motion.

Governor Obaseki subsequently appealed the judgement, causing the judge to suspend the case at the lower court indefinitely.

The appellate court has ordered the governor to return to the lower court for the continuous hearing of the suit against him.