Abubakar Bello

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dragged Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State and his Deputy, Alhaji Ahmad Ketso before the Election Petition Tribunal in the state.

The development followed a stakeholders meeting of the party in Minna, the state capital convened to advise the party on whether to challenge the victory of Bello, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last elections.

In its report submitted to the state chairman of the party, Alhaji Tanko Beji on Wednesday, the Advisory Committee headed by the deputy governorship candidate of the party, Mohammed Ndayako advised the party to seek redress at the tribunal.

The petition alleged that Bello and his Deputy presented fake academic certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that there were malpractices during the polls.

The PDP faulted the graduation date on the academic certificate of the governor which he purportedly acquired from the University of Maiduguri and the period he took part in the National Youth Service (NYSC) programme.

According to the PDP, the dates on both certificates showed that he took part in the NYSC while still in the university, which cannot be the case as required by law.

The PDP also faulted the certificates presented by the Deputy Governor, alleging that the certificates he claimed were obtained in Lavun Local Government Area of the state carried different spellings in his names.

The party further claimed that the Deputy Governor  forged his membership card of the APC by superimposing his name on the original owner, who they identified as Ajo.