Supreme court dismisses certificate forgery suit against Obaseki

The supreme court on Friday dismissed a certificate forgery suit against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state.

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

But the governor had insisted that the error on the copy of his certificate was made by a photocopying machine.

Having lost their case at the trial court and the court of appeal, the appellants appealed to the supreme court.

But in a unanimous decision on Friday, a 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 woefully failed to substantiate their forgery allegation against the governor.

The court while dismissing the appeal, awarded N1 million cost against the appellants.