INEC Withdraws Certificate of Return From Delta Deputy Speaker

Dr. Muhammed Lecky, the INEC National Commissioner, South-South, issued the Certificate of Return withdrawn from the Deputy Speaker to Emeka Ozegbe, as the elected member of the Delta State House of Assembly representing Ndokwa East constituency.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has withdrawn the Certificate of Return it issued to the Deputy Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Friday Osanebi.

Last month, a Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City, Edo State, had ruled against Osanebi over allegations of certificate forgery.

In April 2018, a Delta High Court sitting in Kwale sacked Osanebi over allegations that the NECO certificate he submitted to (INEC) for his election in 2015 was forged. The court also declared that Osanebi lied on oath by submitting a forged NECO certificate and ordered the immediate swearing in of Ozegbe into the House.

According to the presiding judge, Justice V.I. Ofezi, there was no evidence to prove that Osanebi sat for the NECO examination at Orogu Grammar School, Orogu, Ughelli North local government area of the state as he claimed. Ozegbe was able to prove that Osanebi presented a NECO certificate, which was not his, in the form CF001 2014 that he submitted to INEC for the election and, therefore, directed INEC to immediately withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to the Deputy Speaker and issue sit to Emeka Ozegbe, who was validly nominated as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 elections.

The Delta State High Court judgment was appealed by the Deputy Speaker. However, at the Court of Appeal in Benin City, ruling was issued in favour of the claimant, Odegbe.

Osanebi, however, appealed against the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Benin City to the Supreme Court, which is yet to begin hearing on the matter.

In a chat with our correspondent, Ozegbe disclosed that there were two Appeal Court judgements that ruled in his favour. “One in the case instituted by me with suit number: HCK/78/2017, Appeal Number: CA/B/210A/18 and in the case instituted by Friday Osanebi with suit number: HOK/78/2017, Appeal Number: CA/B/210/2018. In both cases, judgements were issued in my favour and in the Appeal instituted by Osanebi, N500,000 was awarded as costs against Osanebi in my favour,” he said.

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