The hope of Christian Abah of representing his constituency was dashed as a Federal High Court in Abuja today quashed his victory for allegedly forging his certificate.
The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to invalidate the certificate of return earlier issued to him.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola, while ruling on the the suit filed by Hassan saleh, who challenged the eligibility of Abah to stand for the election, ruled that the allegation of certificate forgery levelled against the first respondent (Abah) has been proved to be true beyond reasonable doubts.
The plaintiff alleged that Abah forged the National Diploma (ND) certificate in Accountancy he claimed to obtain from the Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa, in 1985 and which he submitted to the INEC.
The African Examiner reports that the judge reiterated that the outcome of the investigations indicated that an earlier judgment of the National/State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, delivered on September 6, 2011 as well as the purported letter written by the institution’s Registrar, Mr. Suleiman Buba, confirmed that the certificate was fake.
Consequently, the court ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, to immediately commence prosecution of Abah, who was recently elected to represent Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo of Benue State Federal Constituency seat for forgery and perjury.
Abah, was returned unopposed by the INEC as he was the only candidate fielded for the March 28, 2015 Presidential and National Assembly elections in his constituency.
