Barring any last minute changes, the All Progressives Congress (APC) may not field a candidate in the September 21 election in Edo because an Abuja Court has summoned the party’s candidate, Monday Okpebholo, for making false statement on oath.

With the court summon for the candidate to answer to criminal charges, it is not clear if Okpebholo will be available to participate in the coming election in Edo State.

The case pertains to conflicting date of birth claims Okpebholo made under oath in his nomination forms submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to contest the 2024 governorship election.

The case with suit no CR/W22/816/2024 is between Mr. Honesty Aginbatse and Senator Monday Okpebholo.

The Magistrate summoned Okpebholo to appear in court on Friday, September 20, 2024, a day to the governorship election billed for September 21.

The court ruled that “Whereas your attendance is required to answer to a charge of making false statement on oath, you are summoned to appear in person before the Magistrate Court at Wuse Zone 2 on the 20th of September, 2024 at 12 noon.”

Filing the case, the complainant stated that “the defendant on 24/03/2024 submitted a list of his personal particulars dated 05/03/2024 to INEC wherein he made a statement in item number 4 in Part B thereof to the effect that he was born on 29/08/1970. A certified true copy (C.T.C) of the list of personal particulars submitted to INEC by the defendant is attached to this complainant and marked as Exhibit B.

He argued that “in the same Exhibit B, the defendant made a declaration on oath dated the same 05/03/2024 deposed as a verifying affidavit in support wherein he attached several documents including a Statutory Declaration of Age deposed to on 04/06/2022 by one Okpebholo Ojeifo Joseph; marked as Exhibit C in this complaint and a West African Senior School Certificate with Candidate and Certificate numbers 4320545182 and NGWASSCS11023655 respectively; marked as Exhibit D in this complaint… the said Exhibit D contains a statement to the effect that the defendant was born on 29/08/1972, which is false in all its material particulars.

“This is particularly so as the statutory declaration of age mentioned in paragraph 7 above as Exhibit C, which in law stands in the stead of the defendant’s Birth Certificate, has definitively affirmed that the defendant was born on 29/08/1970.”