A senator from Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, Konbowei Benson, faced charges in the FCT High Court in Abuja on Tuesday. He was accused of forging an exemption certificate from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Mr Benson, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been brought before the court on three charges. These charges include acting against the provisions of the Penal Code Act, forging the NYSC exemption certificate, and using the forged certificate to gain admission into the School of Postgraduate Studies at Imo State University, Owerri.
In February, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, filed a forgery lawsuit against the lawmaker, Premium Times reports.
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In the lawsuit labelled CR/028/2023, the IGP has directly accused the senator of creating a document called ‘Certificate of Exemption’ with the number 000256454 and dated 4 July 2008.
Mr Benson was later brought to court and was scheduled to appear before the FCT High Court in Abuja on 12 February. However, the arraignment was delayed because of his inability to attend due to poor health.
During the court proceedings, the senator’s counsel, Gordy Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court that his client was unable to attend due to medical reasons. To support this claim, he submitted a medical report.
“My lord, the defendant is medically indisposed and cannot be in court. He is on a drip. I pray the court for an adjournment. I promise to provide him at the next proceedings,” the counsel pleaded.
Charges
During the continuation of the proceedings on Tuesday, Mr. Benson and his counsel were in attendance.
One of the charges against the senator was that he allegedly violated certain sections of the Penal Code Act CAP 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 and could face punishment under Section 364 of the same Act.
In March 2014, Benson Friday Konbowei is accused of fraudulently using a document, specifically a Certificate of Exemption, to contest elections in Bayelsa State. He won the election for Southern Ijaw Constituency IV in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in 2015, and later won the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District National Assembly election on February 25, 2023, becoming a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“And you also submitted four copies of the same forged NYSC certificate to gain admission into the School of Postgraduate Studies of the Imo State University, Owerri, which you then knew to be a forged document and you submitted four copies of the forged Certificate of Exemption Number 000256454 dated July 4, 2008, as a compulsory requirement to the School of Postgraduate Studies of the Imo State
University Owerri is a mandatory prerequisite for admission into the school of postgraduate studies.
Despite the charges read to him, Mr. Benson maintained his plea of not guilty.
The trial judge, Christopher Oba, has set a new date for the commencement of the trial, which will now take place on 28 March.
