The Edo State chapter of the Peoples
Democratic Party said it has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in
Benin seeking to disqualify the candidate of the All Progressives
Congress, Godwin Obaseki, from contesting the September 10 governorship
election.
The party 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 the Independent National Election
Commission form CF001, Part B, Paragraph C and dated July 11, 2016, was
false.
The defendants in the suit with reference number FHC/B/CO/120/16, dated September 1, 2016, are Obaseki and INEC.
The Edo State Chairman of the PDP, Chief
Dan Orbih, who disclosed this on Tuesday, explained that the party’s
assessment of the affidavit showed that the APC candidate allegedly lied
on oath by providing false information.
Orbih argued that Obaseki’s claim that
he graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1976, as deposed in a
sworn affidavit in June, 2016, was false because he did not have the
requisite number of passes to study Classical Studies.
The PDP chairman explained, “The man
claimed he left secondary school in 1973. In this affidavit, he is
claiming that he graduated in 1976; there is no way he would have gained
admission to university with secondary school certificate and use three
years to obtain a degree.
“What is more, the man had only three
credits, with a pass in English. I want to state clearly (that) at the
time he claimed in entered the university, the entry requirement for
direct entry or preliminary studies was a minimum of five credits and
you must have a credit in English for you to study Classical Studies.
“In the form, he claimed that he had
three credits with a pass in English. What this means is that he swore
on oath, showing clearly that he entered the university in a year he did
not gain admission into the university.”
Although a date had not been fixed for
hearing, Orbih called on Edo residents not to bother to vote for the
APC, adding that the suit implied that the ruling party had no
candidate.
He said, “From the details of this suit, I can say that the APC has no qualified candidate to contest this election.
But the Publicity Secretary of the Edo
APC, Godwin Erhahon, said that while the PDP had the right to contest
the eligibility of its (APC’s) candidate, the opposition party could not
be the judge in the matter.
0 comments:
Post a Comment