Global Times Nigeria has obtained a report of Senatorial candidate of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, in the just concluded Nasarawa West primary who was allegedly accused of forging document of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in a desperate attempt to validate his nomination.
The drama held today at the federal high court Lafia when the All Progressive Congress (APC) Senatorial candidate for Nasarawa West Arch Shehu Tukur was alleged to have forged an INEC document in an attempt to validate his nomination.
Barrister Labaran Magaji who contested the June 4th, 2022 Senatorial primaries with Arch Shehu Tukur is challenging the outcome of the primaries on the basis that delegates from two out of the five LGAs that made up the Constituency were doctored in favor of the winner.
At the resumed hearing of the case yesterday in Lafia, lawyers to the plaintiff discovered that some INEC documents tendered by the defendant were alleged to have been forged and not authentic.
Justice Nehizina Idumudia Afolabi adjourned the matter to August 31st to enable the court to summon INEC to clarify the discrepancies in the signature of one Mr. Omale Samuel in INEC whose signature appears differently.
Barrister Labaran Magaji who contested the June 4th, 2022 Senatorial primaries with Arch Shehu Tukur address the press after today hearing in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital. pic.twitter.com/WoTbt9FusZ
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Speaking to our correspondent after the hearing yesterday, the plaintiff, Barrister Labaran Magaji said
” We are extremely comfortable with the proceedings of the court today, what we again discovered today curiously is another set of forgery by the second defendant.
“Forgery of INEC stamp and signature, and based on which we sought for an adjournment to enable us do the needful to expose those people to the court and it is at this point, we are going to deploy our criminal expertise and I want to see some people on their way to jail.
“So on this note, the court has graciously adjourned this matter to the 31st of this month for us to produce the particulars of the forgery.
“The forgery is about the delegate list which we are contesting instead of them to go and provide the proper delegate list from INEC, they rather produce another different list from their confines or pocket and appended the signature purported to have been the signature of an INEC staff and we are taking it up very seriously.
“Because we need to sanitize the system, that is why we have entered politics so that we can wipe out the criminal tendencies in our political system so that Nigeria will be better for it” Barrister Magaji had said
Also speaking, Council to the plaintiff, Gali Umar Ahmed said “I am the council to the plaintiff barrister Labaran Magaji.
“We discovered another abnormally, it is about certifying officer of INEC Mr. Omale Samuel, they brought the same document in their response to our allegations against them with the stamp of Omale Samuel and signature that was brought is different from our own all purported to be from Omale Samuel
“There are two conflicting signatures and stamps because the stamp of Omale Samuel is ADC and C and the C is carrying the bracket and where he will sign is with a capital letter but their own where the Omale Samuel will sign is with a small letter and their own where he will sign is not bracket.
“So we now discovered that even the signature is not that of Omale Samuel, we call on the attention of the court to that effect, and we applied for an adjournment to enable the court to summon Omale Samuel to clarify the discrepancies because there will be no two processes at the same with different signatures”
“That is what transpired in court and the court obliged us an adjournment to 31s of august to supine Omale Samuel to come and give us his version,” he said
Lawyer to APC Ibrahim Bawa said he won’t comment on the matter until the alleged forgery is proven before the court on the 31st of August.
Our correspondent gathered that the plaintiff is asking the court to expunge the 125 fake delegates from Keffi and Nasarawa LGAs from a total of 179 votes garnered by Arch Shehu Tukur and declared him a winner with 114 votes which he got from the other LGAs such as Toto, Kokona, and Karu LGAs.
