Court orders DSS to probe Diri’s deputy over certificate forgery

By Toby Prince

An Abuja Area Court has ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate the allegation of forgery of certificate against the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Duoye Diri was sworn in on February 14 as Bayelsa governor alongside Mr Ewhrudjakpo as his deputy.

They were sworn in following the February 14, 2020 judgment of the Supreme Court nullifying the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidates in the governorship election held last November.

A highly-placed member of the APC from Bayelsa, Benjamin Youdiowei, had approached the court in Lugbe, Abuja, alleging that Ewhrudjakpo presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate.

Mr Youdowei alleged that Ewhrudjakpo had been using the allegedly forged document dated February 2, 1998, with number 139708 as part of his credentials.

Justice 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.

He had also ordered the police to investigate the deputy governor before issuing a fresh order directing the DSS to take over the investigation.

Ewhrudjakpo, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was until his inauguration a senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District.

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