Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon Benjamin Kalu, has a fresh legal battle to save his seat after over two years in the National Assembly.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Okechukwu Ezeala, filed a suit asking an Umuahia High Court presided over by Justice O.A. Chijioke to sack Kalu over alleged certificate forgery and impersonation.
Other defendants in the suit No. HU/265/2020, include the ruling APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Speaker, House of Representatives.
In the originating summons, the claimant alleged that the primary and secondary school certificates that Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency on the APC platform, had submitted to INEC contained incriminating irregularities as the names on the said certificates are completely different from his current identities.
In the affidavit in support of the originating summons, the claimant contended that Benjamin Okezie Kalu did not submit any valid document to prove that he attended primary and secondary schools, because there is no Benjamin Kalu in both the primary and the secondary school certificates he submitted to the INEC.
Speaking with journalists in Umuahia, Ezeala said that he was sure of the validity of his claims and that was why he approached the court to remove Hon Kalu having deceived both INEC and voters in his constituency to win an election.
He stated that the documents that Kalu submitted to the INEC contained “one school certificate from Wilcox Memorial School, Aba, bearing Okezie and another one bearing Osisiogu Okezie, so the two names, Benjamin and Kalu are very strange names to say the least.”
The claimant argued that “if we elected Benjamin Kalu in Bende into the House of Representatives and there is no Benjamin Kalu and neither is there a valid change of name” he cannot retain the mandate by mixing up several names since there was no valid change of name up till university level.
He further argued that if the House spokesperson later went and did affidavit for a change of name “it’s an afterthought since he has been using the same name for official documents from time immemorial.
“You cannot put something on nothing and it would stand. Bende people know that they elected Benjamin Kalu and then somebody else certificate is in INEC; something is wrong somewhere,” he said.
Ezeala, therefore, wants the court to determine if “somebody who does not have a valid school certificate or primary school certificate can contest an election to Bende Federal Constituency and indeed any other constituency across the federation.”
He also wants the court “to determine whether Benjamin Okezie Kalu was a valid candidate ab initio” adding that if the answer to the matters raised are not in affirmation of his candidacy, the court should therefore declare that APC had no candidate, ab initio, in the said election from which Kalu derived his mandate.”
Ezeala, who served as a member of Nigerian Youth Parliament, senior legislative aide in the National Assembly, member ECOWAS Youth Parliament and candidate of the APC in the 2019 Bende South state constituency poll insisted that Kalu was unqualified to represent Bende federal constituency.
Consequently, the claimant prayed the court “to order the INEC to issue Certificate of Return to those that participated in the elections and scored the highest votes” since, according to him, the APC had no candidate in the said election having fielded an unqualified candidate.
He stated that he has absolute confidence in the court “to decide whether someone can benefit from his own wrong doing” adding that there is no time bound for a court to hear a forgery case, citing precedents from similar cases the Supreme Court had delivered verdict.
There was a mild drama in court when Kalu’s legal team led by Mr. K. I Nwaoffor (SAN), opposed the appearance of Mr. Okey Amaechi, (SAN), to lead the legal team of the claimant, saying that it was “an attempt to change the goal post at the middle of the game.”
However Justice Chijipke ruled but expressed gratitude to the court for ruling in his favour to allow both Chief Okey Amaechi (SAN) and Charles Onuchukwu esq to continue with the matter yesterday.
