Forged certificate: Court grants order of substituted service on Tinubu

Bola Ahmed Tinubu: Why I Want To Be President

The vacation judge of Federal High Court Abuja, Justice Ahmed Mohammed has fixed September 7, 2022 for hearing of a legal suit seeking the disqualification of Bola Ahmed Tinubu the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), from contesting 2023 presidential election for allegedly presenting forged certificate.

 

The Court fixed hearing, just as it granted an ex-parte order for substituted service on Tinubu who had invaded personal service of Court processes.

 

Plaintiffs are praying the Court for an order disqualifying Tinubu from contesting or participating in the forthcoming 2023 Presidential general election as a candidate of All Progressives Congress based on the information he supplied to the Independent National Electoral Commission as presidential candidate of party.

 

The plaintiffs, four chieftains of All Progressives Congress (APC): Memuna Suleiman and Jigo Mohammed Garba both delegates at the party national convention in Abuja, Ofodu Anthony and Ibiang Miko Ibiang jointly instituted the action against the Independent National Electoral Commission 1st defendant.

 

They also made the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Assembly and Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice as the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th defendants respectively.

 

Plaintiff counsel, Goddy Uche (SAN), leading Francis Jimba and others, on Thursday had told the vacation judge Justice Ahmed Mohammed that the substituted service was necessary because all attempts to serve the 3rd defendant have proved abortive as he cannot be reached.

 

In a brief ruling Justice Mohammed ordered that the Court process to be served on the National Secretariat of APC and that such service shall be deemed as having been properly served on 3rd defendant Tinubu, the APC Presidential candidate.

 

In the suit, the plaintiffs had posed the following questions for determination: Whether having regard to the provision of sections 1 (3); 4(1)and 2; 14(1),(2)(a)and (c)and 42(1)(a)and (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 (as amended), the provision of section 29(5)of the Electoral Act,2022as 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 also prayed that upon the favourable determination of the above questions, for the following reliefs:

A declaration of the Court that the provision of section 29(5) of the Electoral Act,2022 is ultra vires the 4th Defendant and unconstitutional, null ,void and of no effect whatsoever.

 

An order of the Court striking out/striking down the provision of section 29(5) of the Electoral Act ,2022 from the Electoral Act and the body of extant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria same being ultra vires the 4th and 5th Defendants, unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

 

A declaration that the 3rd Defendant has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the purpose of seeking to be elected into the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

A declaration that the 3defendant stands disqualified from participating in the 2023 presidential election as candidate of the 2nd Defendant having presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the purpose of seeking to be elected into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

An order disqualifying the 3rd Defendant from contesting or participating in the forthcoming 2023 Presidential general election as a candidate of the 2nd Defendant.

 

In a 33 paragraphs affidavit in support of suit deposed to by Ibiang Miko Ibiang the plaintiffs averted that Tinubu falsely sworn to an affidavit in 1999 in which he claimed to have attended St. Paul Aroloya Children Home School, Ibadan -1958-64 and Government College, Ibadan -1965-68 and presented same to INEC.

 

That the deposition had turned out to be false and that in order to conceal the falsity of the information he submitted to INEC, he had omitted to provide any information whatsoever relating to his primary and Secondary schools in his INEC form for 2023 election.

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