Godwin Obaseki

Jethro Ibileke/Benin

Four days to the governorship election in Edo state, the Ahmed Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has dragged the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Godwin Obaseki, to court, seeking to disqualify him, for allegedly providing false claims and information on oath to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).‎

In particular, the party in the suit No. FHC/B/CO/120/16 dated 1st September, 2016 and filed by Chief Joseph Aghimien, SAN, and Professor Edoba Omoregie, instituted at the Benin Division of the Federal High Court, is asking the court for a declaration that Obaseki’s statement that he graduated from the University of Ibadan with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Studies in 1976, made under oath in INEC form CF001 at Part B, paragraph C dated 11July 2016, is false.

In addition, the PDP is asking for a declaration disqualifying Obaseki from contesting Saturday’s Edo State governorship election on the grounds that he submitted false information on oath to the INEC in Form CF001.

Edo State PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, who disclosed this on Tuesday at a press conference in Benin, said the move became necessary as the party was certain beyond doubts that the academic qualifications attested to by Obaseki in an affidavit he swore to in June, 2016, were false.

He added that Obaseki refused to clear the air by displaying the original of his certificates after he claimed they had been found in the United States, calling on voters in the state not to waste their votes on the Obaseki because the APC has no candidate in the election.

The defendants are Mr. Godwin Obaseki and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Orbih added that apart from misleading the INEC with false information, the fact that Obaseki failed to declare if he was a member of any secret society disqualifies him from contesting for the office of governor of Edo State.

In all, the PDP Chairman said Obaseki has failed to fulfill the requirements of the constitution which in Section 182 (I) h specifies the qualifications a person must have to contest the governorship of a state, hence the call that the court should disqualify him from contesting the weekend’s election.