Court Orders DSS to Investigate Bayelsa Deputy Governor Over Certificate Forgery

An Abuja Area Court, Saturday ordered the Department of State Security (DSS) to investigate the alleged forgery of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate by the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Ewhrudjakpo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) represented Bayelsa West Senatorial District in the Senate until he was recently swear in as deputy governor of the state, following February 14, 2020, judgement of the Supreme Court, nullifying the victory of the All Progressives Congress and its candidates in the last governorship election in the state.

An APC chief in Bayelsa State, Benjamin Youdiowei, recently approached the Area Court in Lugbe, Abuja, accusing Ewhrudjakpo of presenting to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a forged NYSC Exemption Certificate with number 139708 and dated February 2, 1998.

He alleged that Ewhrudjakpo used the allegedly forged document as part of his credentials.

The judge presiding over the case, Abubakar Sadiq, had on November 27, 2019, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Ewhrudjakpo following his absence from the court for the day’s proceedings.

On Wednesday, Youdowei’s lawyer, Seidu Jibrin, noted that the Wuye Police Division, which was earlier asked by the court to probe further investigation on the matter, had transferred the case to the Inspector General of Police Monitoring Unit.

Responding, the judge noted that the police ought to have reported back to the court if the Wuye Division was unable to handle the case before taking the decision of transferring the case to the IGP monitoring unit.

He revoked his earlier order directing the police to investigate the case and ordered the DSS to take it up.

According to him, “We hereby terminate the order of investigation given to the police in respect of this matter and order the DSS to investigate it.”