Senator Adeleke: Court rules on alleged certificate forgery Wednesday

Senator Ademola Adeleke

An Osun High Court sitting in Osogbo has adjourned till Wednesday ruling in the certificate suit involving Sen. Ademola Adeleke, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the Sept. 22 governorship election in the state.

Justice David Oladimeji, adjourned proceedings on Monday after all parties had accessed the relevant documents.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that two members of the PDP in the state had approached the court for an interlocutory order setting aside the election of Adeleke as the PDP governorship flag bearer over alleged non-submission of his Secondary School leaving certificate.

Adeleke was declared the winner in the PDP primary held on July 21 having polled 1,569 votes to beat by seven votes, his closest rival, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, who had 1,562.

The plaintiffs, Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu, in the suit filed on July 24 sought an interlocutory order setting aside the election of Adeleke, arguing that he did not satisfy the constitutional requirements to contest the governorship election.

Counsel to the plaintiffs, Mr Olufemi Ayandokun, had earlier told the court that the certificate tendered by Sen. Ademola Adeleke to INEC and the court was forged.

He urged the court to take judicial notice of the date the certificate was issued and the year stated on it.

The counsel argued that at the time the certificate was issued, Osun had not been created as a state.

He described the certificate as fake.

Ayandokun prayed the court to adopt and rely on the written address in support of the response to the notice of preliminary objections and asked the court to strike out the counter-affidavits.

The defence counsel, Mr Edmund Boriomoni, told the court to also strike out the originating summons and the motion on notice for want of competency and jurisdiction.

He said that another affidavit had earlier been filed for preliminary objection and a counter-affidavit for the originating summons.

Boriomoni said there were 22 grounds, 48 paragraphs of affidavits and three exhibits marked in support of the affidavits and nine issues for determination.

He urged the court to dismiss the suit filed against his client for lacking in merit.

(NAN)