An Abuja High Court has annulled a criminal summons issued on September 12 by a Wuse Magistrate Court against Senator Monday Okpebholo, accusing him of certificate forgery.
The court ruled that the summons, issued by Magistrate Abubakar Mukhtar, was beyond his jurisdiction and represented an error in law.
Justice Charles Agbaza, in a ruling delivered on Friday, agreed with Okpebholo’s counsel, Andrew Emwanta, that the criminal summons and the subsequent proceedings violated the senator’s fundamental right to a fair hearing under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
The judge declared that the summons was illegal, unconstitutional, and should be quashed.
Senator Okpebholo, the APC candidate and governor-elect in the Edo State governorship election held on September 21, had challenged the summons issued by Magistrate Mukhtar.
The summons had required Okpebholo to appear in court on September 20, just a day before the governorship election, in response to allegations of providing conflicting birth dates on his nomination forms submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The case, brought against Okpebholo by Honesty Aginbatse, an indigene of Edo State, claimed that Okpebholo had falsely declared his date of birth in his nomination papers, which caused confusion over his true age.
However, Emwanta argued that the action was politically motivated and intended to prevent Okpebholo from standing for election by casting doubt on his eligibility.
In response, Emwanta filed an originating summons at the FCT High Court, seeking to quash the summons and all associated proceedings.
The lawyer contended that the summons was issued in bad faith and in violation of Okpebholo’s constitutional rights.
He argued that the case was a pre-election matter, and thus the jurisdiction for handling such issues lay with the Federal High Court, not the Magistrate Court.
In support of his client’s case, Emwanta presented evidence that Okpebholo had taken various steps to rectify any discrepancies regarding his date of birth.
The senator had sworn an affidavit in March 2022 to correct the birth date listed on his WASSCE certificate, which had mistakenly recorded August 29, 1972, instead of his actual birth date, August 1, 1977. Okpebholo had also made corrections on his Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) and had filed a Deed of Regularization of Personal Particulars at the Supreme Court Registry in July 2023.
Despite objections from Aginbatse, who filed a counter-affidavit urging the court to dismiss the application, and the absence of Magistrate Mukhtar from the proceedings, Justice Agbaza ruled in favor of Okpebholo.
The judge stated that the magistrate had failed to properly consider the evidence presented by Okpebholo before issuing the summons.
He cited a previous Supreme Court decision to support his ruling, confirming that the proceedings were improper and illegal.
As a result of the judgment, the court not only quashed the summons but also prohibited Magistrate Mukhtar from continuing with any further proceedings on the case.
While acknowledging the magistrate’s discretion to schedule hearings, Justice Agbaza made it clear that the case was beyond the jurisdiction of the Magistrate Court.
