A
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, elected member of the House of
Representatives, Christian Abah, has lost his seat after a Federal High
Court in Abuja Wednesday directed the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to invalidate the certificate of return earlier issued
to him due to certificate forgery.
In his ruling, Justice
Adeniyi Ademola, in the suit filed by Hassan saleh, contesting Abah’s
eligibility to stand for the election, held that the allegation of
certificate forgery levelled against the first respondent (Abah) has
been proved to be true beyond reasonable doubts, reports African
Examiner.
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 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.
Sequel
to the ruling, Justice Ademola established that the votes he garnered
during the State’s NASS primary held December 6, 2014, were invalid,
hence simultaneously ordered that a new Certificate of return be issued
to the plaintiff, Mr. Hassan Saleh.
Credit: PM News
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