A Magistrate Court in Abuja has summoned Monday Okpebholo, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the upcoming Edo 2024 election, over allegations of age falsification.
The suit, filed on September 12 by Honesty Aginbatse, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), claims that Okpebholo submitted inconsistent dates of birth on various official documents.
According to Aginbatse, the Senate nomination form Okpebholo submitted in 2023 listed his birth date as March 29, 1970.
However, the birth date on his governorship nomination form submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was listed as August 29, 1970.
Further discrepancies were pointed out by the PDP chieftain, who highlighted that Okpebholo’s West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate listed his birth date as August 29, 1972, while his INEC voter card recorded August 1, 1977, as his official birth date.
Aginbatse argued that these inconsistencies violate Section 182.1 (d) of the Nigerian Constitution, which disqualifies a candidate from running for office under such circumstances if convicted.
In his ruling, the magistrate, Abubakar Mukhtar adjourned the case to September 20 for Okpebholo’s appearance before the court.
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