Group Petitions Military And INEC over Buhari’s Certificate. **Nigeria would like to know whether Buhari have Primary School Certificate or not. With barely a month to the general election, a socio-political pressure group, the Leadership and Accountability Initiative, has petitioned the Secretary of Nigerian Army Board and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the alleged certificate scandal rocking the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.). The group’s letter which was signed by the Executive Coordinator, Mr. Henry Shield, with the title, ‘Application for Information,’ and obtained on Sunday demanded that the public be availed with the credentials of the APC candidate as claimed in the sworn affidavit. Shield noted that the group’s application was sequel to Sections 1 and 7 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, adding that the claims by Buhari are spurious and lack merit. The group in the petition to INEC, wanted to know “if Buhari submitted any academic certificate(s) when he contested the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections? “Has Buhari submitted any academic certificate(s) in respect of the upcoming February 14, presidential election? “Does an affidavit in lieu of academic certificates not require a candidate to list their academic qualifications and certificates obtained? “Did Buhari submit a birth certificate or a sworn affidavit of age declaration in respect of the upcoming February 14 election?” The petition dated January 6, further read: “ Buhari served in the Nigerian Army and rose to the rank of a Major-General. “He is presently aspiring for the Office of the President on the platform of the APC. Section 131 (d) of the 1999 Constitution however states that an aspirant for that office must possess a minimum of a school certificate. “In-line with this, Buhari swore to an affidavit at the High Court of Justice, FCT, Abuja on November 24, 2014 claiming that ‘All my academic documents as filed in my presidential form, ‘President APC/001/2015’ are currently with the Secretary Military Board as at the time of this affidavit.” The letter, which was also copied to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS), also tasked the Nigeria Military Board to act expeditiously on the subject matter, stressing that the public would like to know the authenticity of Buhari’s credentials. “Standing on the strength of Sections 1 and 7 of the FOI Act, we wish to most respectfully apply for the information pertaining to the Academic Records of Buhari as claimed in his affidavit,” they demanded. - Hope For Nigeria.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 09:12:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015