ONDO GUBER: Lawyer writes INEC, alleges Ondo dep gov, Ajayi submitted fake certificates

Femi Emodamori, an Akure-based lawyer, has alleged that he has evidence that the deputy governor of Ondo State, and governship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZPL) Agboola Ajayi submitted fake certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The governorship poll is scheduled for October 10.

Mr Emodamori in a letter addressed to the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, gave the electoral umpire a seven day ultimatum to publish the credentials of the Deputy Governor having failed to do so when it published the list of aspirants.

He added that his demand aligned with the provisions of Section 31 (2) & (3) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) which states that: “The list or information submitted by each candidate shall be accompanied by an Affidavit sworn to by the candidate at the Federal High Court, High Court of a State or Federal Capital Territory, indicating that he has fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into that office.

“The Commission shall, within seven days of the receipt of the personal particulars of the candidate, publish same in the constituency where the candidate intends to contest the election.”

He also said that “I have very strong evidence, like many other members of the Civil Society, that Hon. Alfred Agboola Ajayi has presented false certificates to INEC within the context of Section 182 (1) (j) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and the recent Supreme Court decision in MODIBO V. USMAN (2020) 3 NWLR (PT 1712) 470 AT page 510, PARAGRAPHS A-H where the Supreme Court held that ‘Certificate’ has a wider meaning than school certificate, and that it actually means ‘any document that attests, testifies, vouches, ascertains, and verifies the facts therein,” he said.

“In the final list of candidates for the Ondo Governorship Election published at the Akure Office of INEC on 21st August, 2020, Hon. Agoola Ajayi was listed as Number 33 with his academic qualification stated as WASSC, even though he parades himself as a Lawyer.

“The notorious information about him in public or official records (including Wikipedia) is that he claims to have acquired a Degree in Law from Igbinedion University and thereafter proceeded to the Nigeria Law School for the compulsory one year post Degree Program as prerequisites for Call to the Bar.

“He claimed to have been subsequently called to the Bar as a lawyer in 2010. However, he was actually a member of the House of Representatives from 2007-2011 on full time employment, and could not have simultaneously attended University, and then Law School, which are also full time academic programs.”