Court sacks APC lawmaker over certificate forgery

A Federal High Court in Jos has sacked a member of Plateau State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Hassan, for forging his academic certificate.

The lawmaker had claimed to have obtained a business administration diploma from the University of Jos.

University of Jos registrar, Monday Danje, however, denied issuance of the certificate by the institution and declared it as fake.

The lawmaker representing Jos North-North in the Plateau state House of Assembly was taken to court in 2015 by Abdul Saleh.

Saleh lost the All Progressive Congress (APC) primary to Hassan, in 2015.

The judge, Musa Kurya, on Tuesday said there was no proof that the diploma submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by Hassan was genuinely obtained from the University of Jos.

Kurya said it was true that the certificate presented by the embattled lawmaker to INEC in 2015 was not authentic as stated by the school registrar.

“I wonder (why) a person whose diploma certificate is proved to have been forged (is) sitting and making law. I wonder the laws that he will make for the development of his constituency and by extension, the state as a whole,” Kurya said.

Justice Kurya granted all the prayers sought by Saleh and ruled that Hassan was never qualified to seek office as a lawmaker.

The judge said the evidence given by the registrar “is true and uncontroversial.”

Justice Kurya called on the Department of State Security Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crime Commission(EFCC), the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) and the State House of Assembly to take note of the judgement.

Kurya then ruled that Saleh who came second in the primary be sworn in as the replacement for the sacked lawmaker.

He also awarded N5 million as legal fees and N25 million as general damages against the ousted lawmaker.