Certificate Forgery: Submit Yourself For Probe, Court Tells Ex-Rep Member

An attempt by a former House of Representatives member, Rita Orji, to halt a police investigation into allegations of certificate forgery on Tuesday suffered a setback after a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo ruled that she must present herself for questioning.

The court rejected Orji’s lawsuit against the police, instructing her to appear before the Nigeria Police Force for interrogation concerning her alleged West African Examinations Council (WAEC) certificate forgery.

Justice Kawu Bello, delivering the judgement, stated that Orji had a case to answer in the police investigation into the alleged certificate forgery.

He said that the Nigeria Police Force has the authority to investigate any petition brought before them, as per section 200 of the constitution.

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Orji, who served as the representative for the Ajeromi/Ifelodun federal district of Lagos State from 2015 to 2019, has faced legal challenges over a petition filed against her to the Force Headquarters regarding the alleged fake WAEC result.

Acting on a petition from Uche David Esomonu, the force headquarters requested her presence for an interview, inquiry, and potential prosecution. However, she did not respond to the invitation and instead approached the court, filing a suit to prevent the investigation, claiming it violated her fundamental rights.

The petition was submitted to the police before the 2023 general elections, where Orji contested under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but lost in the primaries.

She also lost the 2019 election to the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Kolawole Taiwo.