CERTIFICATE SCANDAL: EMINENT LEGAL LUMINARY AND HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER, BARRISTER MIKE OZEKHOME BLASTS BUHARI. Did the APC Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari satisfy the statutory requirements to contest this year’s presidential election? I have looked at Buhari’s affidavit which he submitted to INEC in lieu of his certificate and is of the opinion that the General did not fulfill the constitutional academic requirement for president. Section 131 of Nigerias 1999 Constitution provides that “A person shall be qualified for election to the office of the President if - (a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth; (b) he has attained the age of forty years; (c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and (d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent. By this provision, a secondary school certificate or its equivalent is the minimum academic qualification for a presidential hopeful. However, what Buhari did is to swear to an affidavit that his academic credentials are with the Military Board. Buhari, in the affidavit, said: “I am the above-named person and deponent to this affidavit therein. All my academic qualifications documents as filled in my presidential form, President APC/001/2015, are currently with the Secretary, Military Board, as of the time of presenting this affidavit.” But Buhari did not state what those academic qualifications are. How on earth did that show that he has a “school certificate or its equivalent”? So Where is Buharis Secondary School Certificate? Nigerians should demand to see what Buhari entered as the academic qualifications documents as filled in my presidential form”. A renowned Lagos lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, said the following on Buhari’s certificate scandal: “The best thing would have been to provide original copies of his certificate, but if the original copies are not available, the next thing is to provide photocopies that are certified by the appropriate public department. What the army needs to do is to certify the copies with their official stamp and by the relevant officer, to the effect that the photocopy with them is the real document that was submitted. In order words, a certified true document is as good as an original document. I do not buy the idea that because a person went through the military, he, therefore, has the equivalent of a secondary school certificate. “The best way to prove an educational qualification is by showing the original certificate. I am a lawyer, but if anyone doubts my qualification, what I would do is to present certificates of my university and the Nigerian Law School, Lagos. If I do not have them, I can contact the University at Ife and the Nigerian Law School, to afford me the photocopies, which must be certified by the official stamp of those institutions. I agree with the learned colleague. If Buhari submits a masters degree certificate or other evidence of educational qualifications equivalent to or higher than a school certificate, that will more than meets the requirements of the law. But he has to get copies of his certificate and submit them. That is the law. You cannot be running a presidential campaign on rule of law, discipline and anti- corruption and not follow simple electoral requirements for submitting your nomination forms. One commentator stated that the major issue here is one person being law abiding and the other being disdainful of the law. Buhari should avoid giving the impression that he is above the law, for that would easily remind Nigerians of his past disdainful attitude to Nigerias laws [coup plotting, Treason, Oputa Panel]. Buharists trumpet his ability to whip everyone into shape. Who is going to obey his (civilian) order when they know he would not obey it himself? for a man who gave us War Against Indiscipline, his act of indiscipline and lack of respect for the rule of law, e.g, his refusal to appear before the Oputa Panel amongst other instances has continually made many Nigerians reluctant to endorse Buhari. When this issue about Buharis certificates broke out, my initial reaction is that Nigerians are going through a difficult period, and our nation should focus on issues that will enhance the quality of life for the citizenry. We should not therefore waste time on frivolities, but should concentrate on the candidates agenda for moving the nation forward. I had expected that his campaign team or his party will simply procure evidence of the General having a school certificate or its equivalent so we can proceed to debate more substantive issues about the future of our country. Unfortunately neither the Generals team nor his party have been able to do the simple and needful. When filing INEC forms a candidate is required to attach evidence of having met the educational requirement for contesting. Rather than attach this evidence Buhari swore to an affidavit that his certificates are with the secretary of the army. The army has said they keep copies of academic records of retired and serving soldiers and anyone who needs copies of his can apply and get them. So my question is: what stops Buhari from applying to the army, getting copies of his certificates if he’s are really among those kept by the army and attaching same to his nomination forms? Is there one law for Buhari and a different one for others? I dont understand why a candidate running on law and order is making this routine matter a big issue. This raises some fundamental questions about Buhari and his capabilities/ temperament to be president of Nigeria today: Is it that the General does not have basic education, equivalent to school certificate or that he has it but feels he is above the INEC requirement of a candidate supplying copies of his certificates? Buhari’s followers say he is a graduate of the prestigious US Army War College. If he is, Buhari should tell what sort of qualifications he got from the college. I have seen pictures of a plaque from the school indicating he was an international fellow to the college, but Buhari’s arrogance prevents him from speaking up to clarify whether what he got from college is an equivalent of a school certificate or above it Even Nigerian courts have ruled that years in a quranic school can be equivalent to a school certificate as required by the constitution. I was told of a case involving one member of House of Representatives from Oyo state; his opponent challenged his victory at a tribunal on the ground that he didnt attend any secondary school. His defence was that he attended an Islamic training school for about 5 years and the election tribunal, subsequently followed by the court of appeal, ruled that his training was an equivalent of secondary school education and the case was dismissed. The Hon member did not swear to an affidavit that merely states that his previous employers had his certificate. What is expected is for a candidate to make concerted efforts to procure a copy of that certificate in fulfilment of the statutory obligation. General Buhari has a responsibility to procure copies of his certificates from the army for the purposes of this election. That affidavit has not fulfilled the constitutional requirement to run for president, it merely conveyed a message not solicited from INEC or by the constitution. The APC Chairman has told us that those asking for Buharis’ certificate are petty and not serious. What hypocrisy! Can you imagine if Jonathan was in this situation? For emphasis, let me reiterate that telling INEC that the army holds General Buharis certificates is not a fulfillment of the constitutional requirement for running for president. Procuring copies of those certificates from the army and forwarding them to INEC are what constitute fulfilling the constitutions minimum education requirement for president. The responsibility is always placed upon the candidate, not on the army or on INEC to verify from the army. We are not asking that Buhari be disqualified for failing to show a school certificate. We are only asking Buhari to simply obey the rules. No one is against Buhari contesting this fourth time, but INEC should summon Buhari to fulfill the statutory requirement or quit the presidential race.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 07:27:52 +0000
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