The Federal High Asaba has dismissed a certificate forgery suit against Sheriff Oborevwori, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State.
In a sitting on Thursday, the court declared the suit filed by Chief Ikie Aghwarianovwe as statute-barred, inconsequential, and a waste of precious time.
In its ruling, the court said the suit numbered FHC/ASB/CS/3/2023, violated constitutional provisions, adding that the requiring action should have been filed within 14 days from the date INEC published particulars of candidates in 2018.
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The Court also declared that Oborevwori’s academic certificates are far superior to constitutional requirements and of greater value than the west African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate which Plaintiff is persistently attacking via a series of futile legal battles.
The Court while dismissing the case held that the plaintiff’s (Chief Ikie) suit was an abuse of the Court process as the plaintiff had filed a similar action which was earlier dismissed by the Federal High Court Warri, and then at the Court of Appeal, seeking similar reliefs as the one in the instant suit dismissed by FHC Asaba.
The presiding Judge noted that if the plaintiff had won his first suit, then he wouldn’t have filed the instant suit. The Court held that the plaintiff’s suit did not disclose a reasonable cause of action and therefore defective and baseless.
On the discrepancies in years of Oborevwori’s BSC certificate – 2010 and 2009, the Court resolved that the documents tendered by PW3, which showed that the 2nd Defendant (Oborevwori) sat for the examination in 2009 but the certificate was later issued in 2010 was reasonable and valid.
The Court further resolved that all evidence before it confirmed that the 2nd Defendant (Oborevwori) was born in 1963. The Age Declaration sworn to since 1983 showed the 2nd Defendant’s correct date of birth. It cannot be imagined that the 2nd Defendant intended to submit false information as far back as 1983.
On failure of the 2nd Defendant (Oborevwori) to fill some columns in his Form EC9 regarding his academic qualifications, the Court resolved that there was no evidence that the 2nd Defendant submitted any false information to INEC.
It was ruled that there is valid evidence that the 2nd Defendant is a Nigerian Citizen. He is above 35 years of age and possesses the requisite academic qualifications to aspire for the office of Governor as stipulated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999, as amended
The Court also held that because the plaintiff’s suit was statute-barred, it cannot go back in time to examine Form CFOO1 which was submitted in the year 2018, because the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided that the plaintiff had 14 days from the date the names and particulars of the candidates were published by INEC to institute an action.
The Court further held that no Court or Tribunal had earlier found that the Defendant (Rt Hon Sheriff Francis Oborevwori) had submitted forged documents to INEC in the year 2018, and there is no disclaimer from INEC, and it is too late to determine that now.
The Court held that Oborevwori’s Deed Poll is a valid legal document used to reconcile Oborevwori’s name variations and that he didn’t have to correct his Date of Birth on it as that is not what a Deed Poll is used for.
The alleged discrepancies in the age of Oborevwori are irrelevant as his age does not fall below constitutional requirements for aspirants or candidates vying for the office of Governor of a State in Nigeria.
The Court also held that the Plaintiff (Chief Ikie) failed woefully to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt as requested in criminal allegations, and cannot justify his claim that the defendant deliberately falsified his age.
The Court resolved that the age provided in all Oborevwori’s documents is well above the age of 35 as required by constitutional provisions for the office of the Governor.
Significantly, the Court noted that the plaintiff did not allow the witness from the WAEC office to testify in Court because he knew that the evidence from WAEC would be in favour of the Defendant (Oborevwori).
The Court ruled that the certificates presented by Mr Speaker (Oborevwori) weigh more superior to the Senior School certificate which the plaintiff (Ikie) is contending in Court and therefore amounts to a waste of time and resources.
As for the argument of the plaintiff that there was a discrepancy in the age of the Defendant, the Court held that such baseless argument and/or claim had no constitutional bearing, and was inconsequential in the instant case.
Having earlier found that the suit was an abuse of Court process and statute-barred, the Suit was dismissed, and parties were ordered to bear their respective costs.
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