Court Adjourns Alleged Certificate Forgery Case Against Obaseki

A Federal High Court in Abuja has again adjourned the hearing of the alleged certificate forgery suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

Although the suit was slated for hearing on Monday, Justice Ahmed Mohammed adjourned the suit until Wednesday.

The adjournment followed the submissions by counsel to Governor Obaseki, Mr Ken Mozia, that all pending motions relating to pleadings must first be resolved before going into the substantive matter.

Mozia specifically asked the court to allow him move his motion challenging the competence of the reply filed by the APC to the defence of his in the matter.

However, lawyer to the APC, Mr Akin Olujimi, objected to the position of the governor’s counsel on the pending motions.

He prayed the court to step down all the pending applications and allow him proceed with the substantive matter by calling his witnesses who were in court.

In a short ruling before adjourning the suit, Justice Mohammed held that the motion of Governor Obaseki challenging the competence of the APC’s reply to his defence was fundamental because it related to the pleadings and has to be resolved first.

Governor Obaseki contested the September 19 governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in a bid to extend his stay in office by another four years.

After defecting from the APC to the PDP, he went ahead to defeat Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu and was returned elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The governor secured 307,955 of the total votes, 84,336 more votes than his closest rival Ize-Iyamu, who got 223, 619 votes.