A former Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University and one of the witnesses who testified for Governor Godwin Obaseki in his on going perjury and forgery trial in a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Prof Eghosa Emmanuel Osaghae has said he would damn whatever consequences he might incur and submit an incomplete photocopied certificate for any interview.
Being the third witness called by the defendants, the Professor of comparative politics said “a photocopier can be manipulated to capture the entire content of a document if it is resized or minimise to size into an A4 paper, if the photocopier has the facilities”.
When asked under cross examination by plaintiffs counsel, Chief Akin Olujinmi if he would send incomplete photocopies of his credentials to a panel for a consideration, he said, “If that is all I could get, I will take the risk”, he answered.
According to him, “If I had problems of constraints with the photocopier I was using and it turned out that all I could get was an incomplete copy of my certificate, I would go ahead to submit an incomplete photocopy.
He tendered a Certified True Copy (CTC) copy of his degree certificate in political science from the University of Ibadan saying it was certified by the Deputy Registrar, University of Ibadan after citing the original.
He said, “I made the photocopy of my original certificate and gave it to the Deputy Registrar to certify. I didn’t pay anything for the certification. This photocopy contains the signature of the VC, Registrar and date. I had earlier submitted the original copy of my degree certificate to Ford Foundarion Distinguished Fellowship interview and that’s why I am here with the CTC copy”.
Asked if a photocopy of an original document does not capture all the content of the original, he said “not quite so. If it captures portions that can show that it’s not the original, then it can be said to be incomplete.”