Justice Anwuli Chikelu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, struck out a suit seeking the disqualification of Governor Godwin Obaseki from contesting the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State, on September, 19 2020.
The judge struck out the suit as neither the plaintiffs’ lawyers nor the defendants’ were present in court.
The suit, with number FHC/ABJ/CS/553/2020, filed on May 39, 2020, alleged that Governor Obaseki forged his university certificate.
The plaintiffs, Edobor Williams, Ugesia Godwin and Amedu Anakhu, alleged that the University of Ibadan certificate which he attached to his Form CF.001 which he submitted to INEC for his first term election in 2016 was forged.
Joined as respondents in the suit were the All Progressives Congress(APC) the Inspector-General of Police and the governor, Obaseki.
In their argument, the plaintiffs submitted that the governor’s educational information contained in Part C of the Form CF 001 which he submitted to INEC on July 12, 2016 and the first degree certificate of Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies, said to have been obtained from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, was forged.
According to them, the action is “contrary to the provisions of section 182(1)(i) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999”.
They, therefore, insisted that governor Obaseki was “not qualified to run or seek the office of Governor of Edo State under the platform of the 1st defendant (APC) in the governorship election scheduled to hold in the state on September 19, 2020”.
