A document or writing is said to be false‐
(a) in the case of a document which is a register or record kept by lawful authority, or any entry in any such register, or which purports to be issued by lawful authority as testifying to the contents of any register or record kept by lawful authority, or as testifying to any facts or event, if any material particular stated in the document is untrue; or
(b) if the whole or some material part of the document or writing purports to be made by or on behalf of some person who did not make it or authorise it to be made, or if, in a case where the time or place of making is material, although the contents or writing is made by or by the
authority of the person by whom it purports to be made, it is with a fraudulent intent falsely dated as to the time or place of making; or
(c) if the whole or some material part of the document or writing purports to be made by or on behalf of some person who does not in fact, exist; or
(d) if the document or writing is made in the name of an existing person, either by that person himself or by his authority, with the fraudulent intention that it should pass as being made by some person, real or fictitious, other than the person who makes it or authorises it to be made.
A seal or mark is said to be counterfeit if it is made without lawful authority, and is in such form as to resemble a genuine seal or mark, or, in the case of a seal, in such a form as to be capable of producing impressions resembling those produced by a genuine seal.
A representation of the impression of a seal is said to be counterfeit if it is not in fact made by the seal.
The term "resemble", applied to anything, includes the case where the thing is made to resemble, or is apparently intended to resemble, the object spoken of.
Section 464 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria
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