PDP asks court to disqualify Gombe Gov, Inuwa, Deputy for alleged false certificate

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate for Governor in Gombe State, Muhammad Barde, have petitioned the Federal High Court in Abuja to disqualify the Governor of Gombe State, Mohammed Yahaya Inuwa, and his deputy, Jatau Daniel, to run for the 2023 Gubernatorial Election for allegedly submitting false certificates.

In lawsuit no.: FJC/ABJ/CS/1301/2022 filed on August 2, 2022, the PDP and its gubernatorial nominee are asking the court to bar the governor and his deputy from appearing in office. election for submitting false documents and certificates to INEC which were released on July 22, 2022.

In a writ of summons filed on their behalf by two senior Nigerian attorneys, Arthur Okafor and Johnson Usman, the plaintiffs relied on a series of Supreme Court decisions that Inuwa and his deputy filed on EC-9 forms, which are certificates and to make a false statement therein, is tantamount to submitting false certificates, which is grounds for disqualification under Sections 177(d) and 182(1J) of the 1999 Constitution ( as amended).

In the court proceedings, the plaintiffs alleged that the Deputy Governor bears multiple names in all of his educational certificates without a voting record and any valid name changes attached to his Form EC-9 submitted to the INEC.

Part of the grounds against the Deputy Governor is that "the primary education certificate bears (Manassah Jatau), the school certificate of the West African Examination Council (Daniel Manassah J), the certificate from the University of Maiduguri (Manassah Daniel Jatau) and the National Youth Service Corp Certificate (Daniel Manassah)

Furthermore, Governor Inuwa reportedly in 2022 submitted Form EC-9 (Affidavit of Personal Details of Person Seeking Election as Governor of Gombe State) in which he stated that he worked at Bauchi State Investment Company Limited in 1984, A.Y.U & Co. Ltd between 1985 and 2003 compared to what he filed in 2018 while working at Bauchi Investment Company Limited in 1985, A.Y.U & Co. Ltd between 1980 and 1990.

“This Inuwa Governor in 2018, while presenting his personal information in support of his qualification to contest the election for Governor of Gombe State, stated in his INEC Form CF001 that he had worked with A.Y.U. & Co. Ltd from 1980 to 1990, while in 2022 the same 3rd defendant stated in his INEC FORM EC-9 that he worked with A.Y.U. & Co. Ltd from 1985 to 2003.

"That the Governor, through his INEC FORM CF001 has sworn that in 1980 -1990 he worked with A.Y.U. & Co Ltd, however, in 2022, the Governor has again sworn through his INEC form EC-9 that he worked with the same A.Y.U. & Co. Ltd from 1985 to 2003,” the party added.

According to the plaintiffs, the Deputy Governor who claimed to have worked with the Nigerian Army from August 1979 to July 1980 submitted a NYSC discharge certificate stating that he commenced National Youth Service in August 1979 and had completed it in July 1979.

The Complainants also argued that according to paragraph D of the Deputy Governor's INEC Form EC-9, he claimed to have worked with the Nigerian Army from July 1979 to August 1980 and that the reason for his departure in July 1980 was for National Youth Services.

The plaintiffs further contended that in his INEC EC-9 form, he started his NYSC after leaving the Nigerian Army in July 1980, but submitted a NYSC certificate showing that he started his National Service of youth in August 1979 and ended in July. 1979.

The plaintiffs argued that because FORM EC-9 is a sworn affidavit, the governor and his deputy are not qualified to contest the election, thus urging the Court to disqualify them.

They sought an order from the Federal High Court barring them from participating in the 2023 gubernatorial election in Gombe State due to discrepancies in their academic credentials and for allegedly lying under oath.

In the meantime, no date has yet been set for the hearing of the case.