The Osun governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Ademola Adeleke, Tuesday denied the allegation of certificate forgery preferred against him before the Appeal Court, sitting in Abuja.
Adeleke said he never forged the West African Examination Council (WAEC) Certificate he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to secure clearance for the gubernatorial election.
The lawmaker also insisted that the certificate he attached to his nomination form, CF 001 was lawfully issued to him and confirmed by WAEC in its affidavit evidence submitted to the Federal Capital (Territory FCT) High Court.
He, therefore, pleaded with the court to set aside the judgment of Justice Oathman Musa of an Abuja High Court which he said erroneously held that his certificate was forged.
In the final adoption of his brief of argument by his lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, Adeleke told the 3-man panel that what he presented to the electoral body to secure qualification for the gubernatorial election was exactly what the examination body presented before the lower court when it was ordered to do so by Justice Musa.
Further, the lawmaker insisted that the results, scores and content in both certificates were the same, adding that the only difference was the format it was presented.
He consequently urged the Appeal Court to set aside the Judgment of the lower court and dismiss the suit of the two APC chieftains for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
Similarly, the PDP in its own appeal argued by Emmanuel Enoidem urged the appellate court to dismiss the suit for being incompetent and statute barred.
The PDP legal adviser said the suit was caught by the Fourth Alteration Act to the 1999 constitution, having not been filed within the 14 days allowed by law.
According to Enoidem, the suit was filed after 44 days the cause of action arose, while judgment was delivered outside the 180 days prescribed by law for a pre-election matter. The PDP had conducted its primary on July 21, 2018, while the plaintiffs who are respondents in the appeal had filed their case on September 4, 2018, and judgment delivered on April 2.
