An Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed the certificate forgery suit against Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo State.
The All Progressive Congress (APC), which denied Mr Obaseki its platform to seek re-election as governor, doubted the academic credentials of the governor and approach the appellate court challenging the verdict of a federal high court which ruled in his favour early January.
Dismissing the appeal as unmeritorious, the three man panel ruled that the findings of the lower court, which said the governor did not forget his certificate, cannot be faulted.
Meanwhile, Mr Obaseki has described the ruling as a victory for democracy, equity, fairness and justice.
“From the beginning, all Edo people knew there was no merit in the case. It was ill-willed. It is comforting that the judiciary has again upheld the truth and the verdict of Edo people,” the governor said on Twitter Thursday evening.
Backstory
Mr Obaseki who succeeded Adams Oshiomhole, a former national chairman of the APC, as governor in 2016 fell out with his predecessor who vowed to crush him politically.
As the 2020 governorship election drew near with Oshiomhole at the helm of affairs at the national headquarters of the APC, he ensured his successor was disqualified from using the party’s platform for his re-election bid.
The governor left the party and joined the then opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and subsequently clinched its ticket. Obaseki trounced his major challenger, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who had the backing of Oshiomhole.
