Alleged forgery: Court declines to sack House of Reps’ Spokesman 

A High Court in Abia State has dismissed a suit filled by Okey Ezeala against the spokesperson of the House of Representatives Rep. Benjamin Kalu. Ezeala had accused Kalu of forgery of his academic certificate. The petitioner had approached the High Court claiming that there was a name discrepancy in his academic certificates. In a […]

A High Court in Abia State has dismissed a suit filled by Okey Ezeala against the spokesperson of the House of Representatives Rep. Benjamin Kalu.

Ezeala had accused Kalu of forgery of his academic certificate.

The petitioner had approached the High Court claiming that there was a name discrepancy in his academic certificates.

In a judgement delivered by Justice A.O. Chijioke, the judge, dismissed the suit against Kalu, describing it as malicious.

Justice Chijioke agreed with all the arguments of Rep. Benjamin Kalu’s lead Counsel, K.C Nwufor SAN, affirming it as a pre-election matter.

He, therefore, held that it is statute barred and frivolous.

The court maintained that Kalu fully complied with the law in his change of name and that the claimant failed to differentiate or prove his claim of forgery and impersonation against the rep.

The court also agreed with K.C Nwufor SAN, that the claimant ought to have produced the original bearer of the name which Kalu was alleged to have impersonated.

In the 1-hour 30-minute long judgment, the court also stated that the suit against the legislator appeared to be a case of “the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob”.

Upon dismissing the case, the court also awarded costs against the claimant.

Reacting to the news, Kalu said, “As I have always said, God is the God of justice. As a believer in God, I was confident that He would not allow injustice to be meted against me.

“Also, as a product of the judiciary, I had absolute confidence in the ability of the judiciary to sustain justice especially when the facts speak so clearly for themselves’

“I have experienced the competence of the judiciary from the time of the elections, tribunal and court of appeal. So, I was certain that the judiciary would sustain their fairness and gladly they did not disappoint me. I thank my supporters who believed in me, who stood by me and showed great concern during this period.

“It has been a horrible two years, going in and out of court. The idea of this litigation was to distract me from working for the people of Bende, however I have refused to be distracted.”