Court dismisses certificate forgery suit against Tinubu

Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed a certificate forgery suit against the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The judge delivered the ruling in a suit filed by the Action Alliance (AA).

In his ruling, Egwuatu held that the suit was statute barred because it was not filed within the mandatory 14 days provided for in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

He said the suit had become academic and grossly incompetent, hence, the court lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain it or grant the reliefs sought by the plaintiff.

The judge, who said that the plaintiff lacked locus standi to file the suit, also held that it acted like a busy body having interfered in the internal affairs of another party.

READ ALSO: Group demands Tinubu’s prosecution over academic certificate

He consequently dismissed the suit for constituting an abuse of the court process.

The AA had in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/954/2022, filed on June 21 by its lawyer, U.O. Ukairo, sought a declaration on Tinubu’s claim that he attended Government College, Ibadan, and the University of Chicago on his FORM CF 001 which he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 1999 was false.

It also sought a declaration that the information on the APC presidential candidate’s INEC FORM CF 001 where he claimed to have been awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics by the University of Chicago was a lie.

INEC, APC, and Tinubu were listed as respondents in the suit.

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