On Friday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) petitioned for the governorship election petition tribunal in Kwara State to declare Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak’s election invalid.
Justice Bassey Effiong, the tribunal’s chairperson in Ilorin, stated that the petitioners were directly alleging that the second respondent, Mr. AbdulRazak, had submitted a forged WAEC certificate to INEC before to the March 9 governor’s election.
According to Mr. Effiong, Razak Atunwa, the PDP candidate, failed to substantiate the claims.
“All the information before us demonstrates that Abdulrazak took the test and was therefore eligible to run for governor.
We conclude that the petition lacks merit and are hereby dismissing it based on all the material before us, the chairman of the three-man panel, announced in a unanimous judgment.
Mr. Effiong said that the law required petitioners who made the commission of a crime the core of their claims to establish this fact beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Have the petitioners satisfied the required standard of proof? Based on the evidence in this case, the answer is emphatically “No.
He stated, “We hold that all of the evidences supplied by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) upon which the petitioners had relied and the subpoena were at conflict with the petitioners’ claims.”
The only statutory organization authorized to issue such documents, according to Mr. Effiong, WAEC, made it clear that Mr. AbdulRazak’s credentials came from it………
He claimed that the subpoenaed documents, which confirmed the validity of Mr. AbdulRazak’s WAEC certificate, were given by the petitioner’s witness, Olorunshola Victor, a senior examination officer with the WAEC in Ilorin.
Victor said to the court that he was filling in for the first witness, Waheed Amode, who was unable to attend due to an expensive business meeting he had in Abuja.
According to Mr. Effiong, “He confirmed that the governor took his West Africa School Certificate (WASC) exam in 1976 at the Government College, Kaduna.”
The chairman said that the second respondent also produced a witness who attested to the validity of Mr. AbdulRazak’s WAEC certificate..
The chairman said that the second respondent also produced a witness who attested to the validity of Mr. AbdulRazak’s WAEC certificate.
“The witness, Mohammed Yaro, testified in court that he graduated from Government College in Kaduna with AbdulRazak in 1976, and the two of them also took the WAEC exam.
The governor’s WAEC serial number was 119, according to the witness, whereas his was 122, Mr. Effiong stated.
All of the respondents’ documents, according to the chairman, were legitimate and appropriate to both the current election and any future elections.
According to Mr. Effiong, “The respondent was eligible to run as of the election and has won the election, having received the majority of the vote.”