The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu has been sued by an Abuja-based lawyer, Mike Enahoro-Ebah. Enahoro-Ebah sued Tinubu over allegations of certificate forgery, falsification of age and lying on oath.
The lawyer sued the ruling party presidential candidate in three direct criminal complaints filed at the Chief Magistrate’s Court, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.
While Enahoro-Ebah is the complainant, Tinubu is the sole defendant in the cases marked: CR/121/2022, CR/122/2022 and CR/123/2022 respectively.
The suits, dated November 9 and filed on November 10, 2022, by the lawyer himself, were brought pursuant to sections 88(1), 89(3), 109(a), 110(c) and 115(1)(b) and 119 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015; under the inherent jurisdiction and powers of the court secured by Section 6(6)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution,1999 (as amended).
Enahoro-Eba alleged that documents obtained from the Chicago State University by his attorney in the United States, Matthew J. Kolwals, through a subpoena in 22-L-007289, contained information that contradicts the material information provided by Tinubu in his sworn Form EC-9 Affidavit In Support of Personal Particulars submitted to INEC on June 17, 2022.
In the case of number: CR/121/2022, Enahoro-Ebah alleged that Tinubu presented “a forged Chicago State University certificate to INEC with the intent that it may be acted upon as genuine, thereby committed the offence of forgery contrary to Sections 362(a), 363 and 364 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
Enahoro-Eba alleged that the copy of the Chicago State University Certificate released by the school “is radically different” from the copy attached to Tinubu’s sworn Form EC-9 submitted to INEC on June 17.
According to him, a direct comparison of both certificates reveals different dates of the issue by the university (June 22, 1979, and June 27, 1979); different university logos on both certificates; different grammatical construction on the faces of the certificates, and different signatures, among others.
He said in support of the defendant’s undergraduate admission application form submitted to Chicago State University in 1977, was a transcript from Southwest College, Chicago, bearing the name “Tinubu Bola A” which belongs to a female student, contrary to Form EC-9 submitted to INEC which indicated that Tinubu is a man.
The lawyer further alleged that Tinubu, that attended the university, indicated in his undergraduate admission application form that he graduated from Government College, Lagos, in 1970, while the defendant, in his Form EC-9 submitted to INEC, provided no information as to his attendance at the said Government College, Lagos, among other allegations.
No date has been fixed for the hearing.
