Supreme Court dismisses certificate forgery case against Obaseki

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the certificate forgery case filed against the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Justice Emmanuel Agim, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the appellants failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

He said: “The appellants failed woefully to prove their case. They did not provide any disclaimer from the school that the result was not issued by them to Obaseki.

“This court agrees with the lower courts completely, that the appellants did not meet sufficient requirement to prove their case.”

The Supreme Court, therefore, awarded a cost of N1 million in favour of Governor Obaseki.

READ ALSO: Appeal Court clears Obaseki in certificate forgery case

The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja had on March 18 dismissed the certificate forgery suit against the governor.

A three-man panel of the appellate court led by Justice Stephen Adah unanimously upheld the argument by Obaseki’s legal team that the APC appeal lacked merit.

The appeal was filed by the APC against the January 9 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, affirming the authenticity of the academic certificates presented by Obaseki.

The court agreed with Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court that the party failed to prove its claim that Obaseki presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the September 19, 2020 election in Edo State.

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