Court fixes date to hear certificate forgery suit against Tinubu

An Abuja Federal High Court has fixed October 12, 2022, for hearing in a suit seeking the disqualification of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, from the 2023 election on alleged certificate forgery.

Judge sets a new date: The presiding Judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, fixed the new date to enable the parties in the suit complete the filing of their processes and exchange same as required by law before the adjourned date, The Punch reports.

The major defendant in the forgery saga, Tinubu, has however, enlisted the services of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Babatunde Ogala, to enable him fortify his defense.

What happened: At the proceedings on Thursday, August 18, 2022, counsel for Action Alliance, the group which instituted the suit, Mr Ukpai Ukairo, announced in the court that he had received the Notice of Preliminary Objection from the defendant asking the court to not entertain the case against him on various grounds.

One of such grounds Tinubu claimed is that the foundation for the certificate forgery suit against him was premised on the 1999 electoral forms he submitted to the then electoral body.

The Presidential aspirant also claimed that the report of the Lagos State House of Assembly which probed him on the alleged certificate forgery is the main foundation of the fresh suit and hence, has become statute barred.

Ukairo, however, told the court that the claims made by Tinubu especially on the statute barred position would be adequately addressed in the subsequent hearings.

Ukairo informed the Judge that the claims made by the former Lagos State Governor orally through his counsel have to be made formally and served on him to enable him file an appropriate response.

The other defendants: Meanwhile, the 1st defendant, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) begged for time to respond to the suit, while the APC failed to send a representative despite proof of service of the suit on it.

Case adjourned: Judge Egwuatu thereafter adjourned the matter till October 12, for parties to put things in proper places before the hearing of the alleged certificate forgery suit commences.

Recall that the Action Alliance had on June 21 approached a Federal High Court seeking for an order to restrain INEC from including the name of APC in the ballot of the 2023 presidential election.