Justice Charles Agbaza of an Abuja High Court, has invalidated a criminal summons issued by a Wuse Magistrates Court against Edo State Governor-elect, Monday Okpebholo, on grounds of alleged certificate forgery.
The summons, which directed Okpebholo to appear in court on September 20, a day before the Edo governorship election was challenged by Okpebholo’s legal team as an unlawful action aimed at his disqualification.
Justice Agbaza ruled that the summons, issued on September 12 by Magistrate Abubakar Mukhtar at the instigation of Mr. Honesty Aginbatse, exceeded the magistrate court’s jurisdiction and breached Okpebholo’s constitutional rights to fair hearing under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
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Okpebholo, represented by counsel Andrew Emwanta, argued that the proceedings were a politically motivated attempt to prevent him from contesting as the APC candidate in the Edo State gubernatorial election, which he subsequently won on September 21.
Emwanta filed an originating summons (CV/4589/2024), urging the court to quash the criminal summons and declare it unconstitutional.
Justice Agbaza upheld the arguments of Emwanta, citing previous Supreme Court rulings to reinforce his decision that the magistrate court lacked jurisdiction over a pre-election matter.
In support of his defense, Okpebholo submitted affidavits and a deed of regularisation to clarify discrepancies in his birth date on official documents, including his WASSCE certificate and voter’s card.
