Court disqualifies PDP lawmaker in Adamawa over certificate forgery

In a significant turn of events, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has overturned the judgment of the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Yola, Adamawa State. The tribunal had previously affirmed Mohammed Salihu, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), as the duly nominated candidate for the House of Representatives election.

Mohammed Salihu had contested and won the election for the Girei/Yola South/Yola North federal constituency. However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Abubakar Baba Zango filed a petition claiming that Salihu had presented forged primary school and birth certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and was therefore ineligible to run for office.

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The lower court had dismissed the petition, stating that Abubakar failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove the certificate forgery allegations. Dissatisfied with this ruling, Abubakar’s lawyer, F.K. Idepefo, took the case to the Court of Appeal.

During the judgment on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal allowed Abubakar’s appeal, agreeing that the certificates presented by the PDP candidate were indeed forged. Consequently, the judgment of the lower tribunal was set aside, and all the reliefs sought by the appellants were granted.

This ruling has nullified Mohammed Salihu’s election, and the seat for the Girei/Yola South/Yola North federal constituency is now in dispute.

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