The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed the allegations of forgery of a discharge certificate brought against the Enugu State Governor, Barrister Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo gave the ruling on Monday.
According to Justice Ekwo, the Corps was unable to prove and defend the allegations as required by law.
He imposed a fine of N5 million on the Corps to be paid jointly to the plaintiff for suppressing facts and conspiring against him in the heinous allegations.
The court held that with the unchallenged evidence of the plaintiff on how the discharge certificate was issued to him in 2003 by NYSC after serving in a law firm in Lagos and the inability of the Corps to come up with counter-evidence, it was crystal clear that the plaintiff served the mandatory one-year service.
Among others, Justice Ekwo held that while the onus to prove forgery allegations lies heavily on the NYSC, it failed, leaving Mbah’s evidence heavier and more believable.
Recall that the NYSC had, in February, written a letter signed by Ibrahim Muhammed saying that the Corps did not issue the NYSC certificate in Mbah’s possession.
Mbah, therefore, sued the NYSC and its Director, Corps Certification, Ibrahim Muhammad, for publishing a disclaimer, denying the issuance of a discharge certificate issued to him on January 6, 2003.
