Alex Enumah in Abuja
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Thursday granted permission to a civil group, Incorporated Trustees of Center for Reform and Public Advocacy, to apply for an order of mandamus that will compel the Inspector General of Police (IG) to prosecute the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, over alleged perjury.
The permission was sequel to an ex-parte application argued by the group through its lawyer, Mr Ugo Nwofor.
The group had petitioned the police over alleged act of perjury by the former governor of Lagos State but, since its letter was received by the defendants some weeks back, it has refused to carry out its duty of investigating and prosecuting the reported crime as in the instant case.
The court, in a ruling, held that the ex-parte application was meritorious and subsequently granted it and fixed November 1, for hearing of the substantive suit.
The main suit dated and filed on July 4 by the group, has the Nigerian Police Force and the IG as first and second respondents respectfully.
The non-governmental organization said that the legal action against the police was necessitated by the IG’s refusal to take action on its petition against Tinubu over an offence it claimed the presidential candidate was indicted by the Lagos State House of Assembly in 1999.
The applicant, in its petition to the IG, claimed that Tinubu lied on oath in his form CF 001 he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of his qualification for the governorship election in Lagos State in 1999.
The applicant further claimed that Tinubu “forged all the educational certificates he listed in his INEC Form CF 001 which he admitted he did not posses in annexure C”.
”For purpose of clarity, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the said INEC Form deposed on oath that he attended Government College, Ibadan and University of Chicago, USA when in actual fact he did not.
“On the strength of the above, we respectfully demand that you initiate the criminal proceedings of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu consequent upon the express findings of the Lagos State House of Assembly as captured above,” the applicant said.
