Abia APGA guber candidate denies allegations of certificate forgery
…Says “I have my certificate, no need to present that of another person”
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) Governorship Candidate in Abia State, Prof. Gregory Ikechukwu Ibe, has again debunked rumours making the rounds that he presented another person’s West Africa School Certificate (WASCE) result while submitting his Expression of Interest Form to the party.
ReactinG to claims made by two contenders for the APGA governorship ticket, Sir Chikwe Udensi and General Ijioma N. Ijioma, during separate sponsored radio programmes monitored in Umuahia, Prof Ibe stated unequivocally that since he successfully completed his secondary school education in Boys High School, Ihube Okigwe, and took the West Africa School Certificate Examination (WASCE) there in 1983, he neither needed to forge papers nor present another person’s result.
“I have been told that my opponents: Sir Chikwe Udensi and Gen Ijioma N Ijioma, have been spreading false and wicked rumours on air about me, alleging that I presented another person’s WAEC certificate to our party. That is not only mischievously preposterous but also malicious since it is an established fact that I attended the Reputable Boys High School, Ihube Okigwe, and successfully took the West Africa School Certificate Examination in that same institution in 1983. Therefore, I didn’t need to forge papers or present another person’s certificate since I have mine,” Ibe said while interacting with newsmen recently in Abuja.
Answering another question, the Professor of Entrepreneurship said: “Since I know that this matter is before a court of competent jurisdiction, I have tried not to make public comments on the issue since the case is sub-judice but my opponents will not let that happen as they continue to spoil my name on radio.
“They were the people who instituted legal proceedings against me in the first place, but when they failed to get what they wanted, they now resort to cheap blackmail, name-calling and opprobrium,” he said.
“The fact is that I don’t know any Joseph Ibe who wrote WASCE in 1992 but I am sure my opponents, who incidentally in their separate lines of business are conversant with the standard protocols of recruitment, established processes of verification and validation of documents, impersonation and the misdemeanor of falsification, will in due course, be compelled to clear the air on this heinous scheme to undo an innocent man. My name is Gregory Ibe and it is incontrovertible that I sat WASCE in Boys High School Ihube in 1983 with examination number 11510034, and my certificate is still intact,” he added.
”Let me assure you that as long as God lives and the judiciary remain the last hope of every Nigerian, those behind this heinous and wicked defamatory act will not go unpunished, even as I encourage the good people of Abia to remain prayerful to ensure that the plans of God to deliver our state from the grip of elements of underdevelopment is not truncated by the selfish activities of unpatriotic people, as I remain resolute in my unwavering commitment to champion the emergence of the new Abia of our dream,” Ibe further said.
Recall that Udensi and Ijioma, as well as Chief Etigwe Uwa (SAN), contested for the APGA governorship ticket in Abia State during the party’s primary held on May 29, 2022 and lost to Ibe.
The trio, however, went to court to challenge Ibe’s victory in court, alleging that the process which produced him was flawed. Some of the cases against Ibe are now before the appeal court for determination.
