JUST IN: Court Discharges Bayelsa Senator on Alleged Certificate Forgery Charges

Senator Benson Friday Konbowei, representing Bayelsa Central, has been discharged by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Apo from charges of certificate forgery.

Konbowei, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was initially arraigned on March 26 on a three-count charge, which included allegations of forging a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate.

On Monday, Justice Christopher Oba discharged Konbowei and struck out the charges following a request from prosecuting lawyer Reuben Egwuaba to discontinue the case. This request came after the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), revoked Egwuaba’s authority to prosecute and instructed him to withdraw the charges.

At the court hearing, Egwuaba formally applied to withdraw the charges, a move that was not contested by the defense team, led by Chris Uche (SAN) and his junior brother Gordy Uche (SAN).

Justice Oba agreed to strike out the charges but denied a subsequent application from Uche to dismiss the charges entirely.

Details shortly…….