Monday Okpebholo, who was the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the last Edo State governorship election, was sworn in as the state’s new governor on Tuesday.
This came after Okpebholo was declared the winner in the election that was conducted on September 21.
The one-day exercise saw the APC candidate defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his closest rival, by 44,393 votes.
In the build-up to the election, however, Okpebholo was summoned by an Abuja magistrate court on September 13 over age falsification claims made against him.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: INEC Announces APC’s Monday Okpebholo Winner of Edo Gov Election
The suit filed by Honesty Aginbatse, a PDP chieftain, stated there were discrepancies in the birth dates provided in the nomination forms Okpebholo submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the suit, Aginbatse claimed that Okpebholo’s 2023 Senate nomination form listed his birth date as March 29, 1970, while his 2024 governorship nomination forms showed August 29, 1970.
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The PDP chieftain also went on to itemise two additional discrepancies which showed Okpebholo had August 29, 1972, as his date of birth on his West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate, and August 1, 1977, as his date of birth on his voter card.
Interestingly, a High Court sitting in Abuja stopped the criminal summons against Okpebholo on Friday.
In his ruling, Justice O. C. Agbaza, the presiding judge, stopped the magistrate court’s decision after granting leave for the judicial review of the criminal summons.
The post FLASHBACK: Magistrate Summoned Okpebholo Over Age Falsification. High Court Stopped It appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.