Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has asked Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki, to provide proof that he has appealed a ruling which earlier dismissed his application in the ongoing forgery case against him.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) had in a suit accused Obaseki of certificate forgery.
Through his counsel, Ken Mozia (SAN), he challenged the competence of APC’s reply to his defence. He asked the court to remove some paragraphs in the plaintiffs’ statement of reply.
But in a ruling on December 2, 2020, the presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, dismissed the governor’s motion.
At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, Mozia said the respondent had approached the Court of Appeal to overturn the ruling.
He said copies of the record, receipts and acknowledgement letter from the appeal court to buttress the fact that an appeal had been entered at the appellate court were before the court.
Mozia, therefore, argued that the case should not go ahead at the lower court pending the determination of the matter at the appellate court. He asked that the case be adjourned indefinitely until the higher court rules.
However, counsel to the plaintiffs, Akin Olujimi (SAN), told the court that he was served with the notice of appeal which is “unauthorised, incompetent record of appeal prepared by Ken Mozia.”
Olujimi said the document does not bear record of appeal number apart from the one read out by the counsel.
The plaintiffs’ counsel noted that it is settled in law that the appellate court notifies a lower court of the pendency of a stay of proceedings through compilation and entry of record of appeal and by an affidavit, setting out all the relevant facts. He said oral notification to the court by a counsel is unacceptable.
“There is nothing before the court that an appeal has been entered in the Court of Appeal. In the absence of proper notification, the only thing we can do now is for the counsel to argue stay of proceedings and we shall respond to it,” Olujimi said.
He stated that pre-election matters are sui generics that need to be disposed off within the statutory time.
In his response, Mozia argued that once a counsel shows proof of pendency of a matter at the appellate court, the lower court is bound to adjourn indefinitely.
However, in his ruling, Justice Mohammed said the court has a duty to find out whether the matter has been entered at the court or not.
“The only justice, in my opinion, is to adjourn the matter to allow the first defendant to present proof that the matter has entered at the court of appeal,” Mohammed ruled.
He subsequently adjourned till Thursday.
In the suit marked FHC/B/CS/74/2020, the plaintiffs specifically prayed the court for an order disqualifying Obaseki from contesting the September 19 governorship election in Edo State on the grounds that he supplied false information on oath to INEC, an act said to be contrary to Section 31(5) and (6) of the Electoral Act, 2010.
They accused the governor of forging his university certificate presented to INEC in aid of his qualification for the governorship election in Edo State.
They also claimed that there are discrepancies in the subject Obaseki claimed he passed in his West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exam.