Ondo 2024: Aspirant petitions APC to disqualify Aiyedatiwa over alleged certificate forgery

Olugbenga Edema, an All Progressives Congress(APC) governorship aspirant in Ondo State, has petitioned the national leadership of the party to disqualify Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa from contesting the April 20 primary over alleged certificate forgery.

Besides, Edema, a lawyer, urged the leadership of the ruling party to investigate the certificate forgery allegation levelled against Aiyedatiwa.

Sixteen aspirants, including the governor, have obtained and submitted their Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to contest the APC primary.

According to Daily Trust, a copy of the petition dated April 5, and addressed to the APC National Legal Adviser was made available to journalists in Abuja.

He reminded the party of the Supreme Court’s decision in 2019, which annulled the election of David Lyon and his deputy in Bayelsa State on ground that the running mate, Senator Degi-Eremienyo presented a forged document to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He emphasised that his intention in bringing the issue to the committee’s attention was not out of animosity towards Aiyedatiwa but to prevent a situation similar to what happened in Bayelsa State from occurring in Ondo State.

The former chairman of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission expressed concern that fielding a candidate with such controversies could lead to losing to the opposition party through the courts.

Edema claimed that PDP aspirants are praying fervently for the APC to field Aiyedatiwa as its candidate in the November16 governorship election in the state.

In a related development, Aiyedatiwa has issued a 7-day ultimatum to Lagos-based legal practitioner Oladotun Hassan, demanding a public apology and the retraction of false publications regarding his academic records.

This ultimatum follows Hassan’s petition to President Bola Tinubu, the leadership of the APC, and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) regarding Aiyedatiwa’s West African School Certificate Examination (WAEC) result ahead of the governorship election.

But the governor, through his lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, challenged the legitimacy of Hassan’s complaint, stating that Hassan is not a registered voter or indigene of Ondo State and therefore has no grounds to make unsubstantiated allegations of misrepresentation, certificate forgery, examination malpractice, and perjury against him.