Court to hear suit on Kwara Gov-elect’s alleged certificate scandal, Thursday
…as 30 days ultimatum expires
By Mumini AbdulKareem and Kayode Adeoti
The High Court, sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital will on Thursday hear the suit of alleged certificate forgery involving the Governor-elect, Alhaji Abdulraman Abdurazaq.
Abdulrazaq, who won the governorship poll under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was accused of allegedly presenting a fake West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate while submitting his credentials to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He was subsequently dragged to court by Adekunle Oluwafemi Abraham over the matter through his legal representative, Muyiwa Atoyebi before Justice Adeniyi Akinpelu of the state High Court.
In the suit no KWS/73/2019, Justice Akinpelu gave the Governor-elect 30 days ultimatum to respond to the allegation and defend the authenticity of his certificate.
The ultimatum which was issued by the court on 7th March, 2019 expired yesterday, 7th April, 2019.
The party’s Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Tajudeen Aro told one of our reporters last night that he cannot comment on the matter for now as he was not aware of the position of the legal team yet.
But speaking on the issue yesterday, one of the counsels representing Abraham confirmed that the matter will come up on the 11th April, 2019.
He added that the Governor-elect had been served processes through the court bailiff adding that Abdulrazaq has failed to file in his response as regards the matter.
“The case has been slated for 11th April. Up till now, we’ve not received any response on our processes but we believe that the case will go on, on the said date. When we get to court, then we will know what their lawyers will be coming to do. We filed our processes through the court bailiff and they’ve been served,” Oguntimilehin emphasised.
However, counsel to the Governor-elect, Barr. Salman Ayinla Jawondo disagreed with the submission of the counsel to the claimant on the receipt of any court process. He added that nothing has been served on him.
“I don’t think they’ve served our client, but I know the matter is coming up on 11th April. Since they’ve not served us or our client, we’re just following the matter up unofficially. The case came up on 7th March, and they’ve not bordered to serve us,” Jawondo submitted.
The certificate forgery case involving the governor-elect took another dimension recently when Abraham who instituted the case raised the alarm about threat to his life.
Abraham, who addressed newsmen in Ilorin, recently, said he had continued to receive threat text messages from unknown persons, pressure from community and religious leaders and calls from friends and relations, urging him to withdraw the case from the court.
He however vowed to pursue the case to its logical conclusion, notwithstanding the threat adding that he instituted the case based on personal conviction to expose illegality in the society in line with the anti corruption posture of the current administration.
He added that he did not do it in the name of his community, Apado, in Ilorin East Local Government Area of the state or any political party.
Describing himself as an activist from his school days at the University of Ilorin, Abraham said “instead of being celebrated as a whistle-blower, I’m here being castigated by my community. And I don’t see any reason this action should be treated in isolation because there are other cases before this in this country, which did not attract much attention.
“Yes, I’m a member of the PDP, but I’m not holding forth for my party or my community. Nobody is sponsoring me. And I hope I deserve a national honour for this action of mine. If we say we are fighting corruption and are still perpetuating corruption, it means double talk. When are we getting out of this corruption mess we’ve found ourselves if we go on like this?” he submitted.
But the APC Governor-elect, through his media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye had described the court case as desperate propaganda.
“It is on record that Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq submitted his WAEC certificate for two previous elections – in 2011 and 2015. In the two instances, the INEC duly vetted his credentials and found them to be genuine. Nothing has changed”.
Also recently, the Apado community in Ilorin East Local Government disassociated itself from the court injunction in a letter signed by Oluwafemi Hassan Agbabiaka and Deacon James Alafiatayo describing the action as being selfish and uncalled for.
The community further expressed its confidence in the leadership ability of the Governor-elect.
Recently, the secondary schoolmates of Abdulrazaq faulted the reports that the politician dropped out of Government College Kaduna.
According to the Government College Kaduna Old Boys Association (GCKOBA) class of 76 in statement signed by Kabiru Yaro, Abdulmalik Giwa and Sanusi Ramallam on behalf of the 1976 set of the college, Abdulrazaq bore the school registration number 1841 and was a member of the popular El-Kanemi House.
Recall that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) recently opened up on the issue for the first time in an exclusive chat with National Pilot.
According to the Head Public Affairs Department of WAEC, Demianus Ojijeogu who spoke in a telephone chat from Lagos, disclosure about the authenticity or otherwise of the certificate of Abdulrazaq can only be based on legal grounds.
“WAEC has a way of verifying result of person(s) who sat for any of the exams. It is not for us to confirm the result to you as a journalist. We can only do that to him because it is his own personal record or the court (based on exigency).
“For now, we can’t be talking on whether he (Abdulrazaq) sat for the exam or not until there is a legal ground for that (compelling INEC to do so), he added.
