The controversy trailing the Nsukka/Igboeze-South Federal Constituency seat of Enugu state seems unabated as the report of police investigation in a case of alleged forgery preferred against a three-time member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Pat Asadu indicted the federal lawmaker.
The findings of the report, which a reliable source confirmed to TheCitizen has been forwarded to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice in view of the status of the person in question, has rekindled hope in the camp of Engr. Ikechukwu Ugwuegede who is the complainant.
There are strong indications however that the lawmaker might face prosecution before long as a result of the “damning report”.
The report of the investigation carried out by the State Intelligence Bureau of the Enugu State Police Command, with one DSP Iwara Ibiang as the Officer in-charge alleged that Asadu had forged the result sheet of the December 6, 2014 PDP primaries election for the National Assembly aspirants for Igboeze South/Nsukka federal constituency.
The lawmaker was also said to have used the “questionable result sheet with serial number 0000324” to obtain judgment at the Federal High Court, Abuja, as the candidate that won the PDP primary election for the constituency and was accordingly issued with INEC Certificate of Return and sworn in as an elected member of the lower chamber of the National Assembly.
The six-page report dated October 19, 2015 and addressed to the Police Commissioner in the state with the signature of Ibiang made it clear that the complainant in the case and a claimant to the federal seat, Ugwuegede was able to defend all the documents he attached to his petition against Asadu in the course of the investigation; while Asadu on his part, allegedly could not defend his documents.
The report also copied to both the petitioner and defendant noted that apart from the National and State Secretariats of the party that defended Ugwuegede as the authentic candidate of the PDP in the said election, forensic analysis used in the course of the investigation also discovered discrepancies in the documents tendered by Asadu.
According to the report: “from the available facts in conjunction with the findings of the forensic/handwriting analysis, there were clear indications that the document in question, that is the result sheet presented by Hon. Patrick Asadu is a subject of forgery”.
However, in view of involvement of a public officer, a member of the Federal House of Representatives, INEC and party officials, the case file was forwarded to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) for appropriate legal advice, please.”
Other details of the report showed that the investigation which commenced May 31, 2015 took the investigating team to PDP office at the state level and the party’s National Secretariat, Abuja where the team met with the National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, the National Secretary, Prof Adewale Oladipo as well as Uchenna Ogbodo and Oluedo Ephraim, the Electoral and Returning Officers that conducted the December party primary in Nsukka/Igboeze-South constituency.
The National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu had recently declared Ugwuegede as the validly elected member of the House of Representatives.
The declaration followed the dismissal of the petition of the APC challenging the said election. This came even as Asadu continued to occupy the seat in question amidst legal tussle and has recently been appointed the House Committee Chairman on Maritime in the Federal House of Representatives by its Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara.
According to political watchers in the state, it might take Ugwuegede a long time to claim the seat due to the legal bull work needed, as the present occupier of the seat may drag the case for long.
