Authorities of the University of Ibadan, on Tuesday, cleared Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State of alleged forgery of degree certificate brought against him by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and one of its chieftains, Williams Edobor.
The degree certificate was confirmed to have been issued Obaseki by the University in 1979 after his formal graduation, Tribune Online reports.
The Deputy Chief Registrar, Legal of the University, Mr Abayomi Samuel Ajayi, the second defense witness (DW2) who testified on subpoena told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the governor graduated from the University.
Led in evidence by Obaseki’s counsel, Ken Mozia (SAN), the witness adopted his witness statement on oath deposed to on December 31, 2020, in defence of the first defendant (Obaseki).
Relevant pages of the University of Ibadan calendar for 1976, admission for degrees, the award of diplomas and certificates and Obaseki’s application for collection of his certificate from the University were tendered by the witness and admitted as exhibits by the Court.
The witness maintained that from the records of the University, Obaseki was admitted as a student in 1976 through the direct entry and that he graduated in the year 1979, during the tenure of Prof Tekena Tamino as Vice-Chancellor and S.J Okudu as Registrar.
Under cross-examination by Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), counsel to the APC, the witness insisted that the fact that some parts of the photocopy of the certificate were cut-off by the photocopying machine, because of the largeness of the certificate did the invalidate the originality and the genuineness of the original certificate issued Obaseki