2023: Date Fixed For Certificate Forgery Case Against Tinubu

A date has been fixed by the Federal High Court in Abuja for the suit seeking to disqualify the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, from participating in the 2023 election.

As reported by The Cable, the case will commence on September 7 and the plaintiffs are requesting that Tinubu be disqualified from the presidential race because he submitted false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Speaking via a 33-page affidavit supporting the suit deposed to Ibiang Miko Ibiang, the plaintiffs allege that Tinubu falsely swore to an affidavit in 1999 in which he claimed that he attended St Paul Aroloya Children Home School, Ibadan from 1958 to 64 and Government College Ibadan from 1965 to 68 and presented the same to INEC. 

The plaintiffs state that the deposition is false and that Tinubu refused to include any information about his primary and secondary schools in his INEC form in order to hide the false details he provided to the electoral body.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to: "Whether having regard to the provision of sections1 (3); 4(1)and 2; 14(1),(2)(a), and (c)and 42(1)(a)and (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the provision of section 29(5)of the Electoral Act, 2022 as enacted by the 4th defendant which modified the provision section 31(5) of the Electoral Act,2010(as amended) is not ultra vires the 4th Defendant and therefore unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatever.

"Whether having regard to the decision of the supreme court in the case Modibbo Vs Usman (2020) 3 NWLR(PT.1712)470 and the provision of section 137(1)(j) the 3rd defendant has not presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the 1st defendant and thereby disqualified from participating in the forthcoming 2023 presidential general election", they stated.

The Judge, Ahmed Mohammed, granted an order for substituted service on Tinubu after the plaintiffs’ counsel, Goddy Uche, informed the court that substituted service became imperative after all efforts to serve Tinubu proved futile.

The case was then adjourned to September 7 for a hearing.