APC: Buhari qualified to run without certificates

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says Muhammadu Buhari, its presidential candidate, is qualified to contest next month’s presidential election even if the army says it is not in possession of his certificates.

It also warned that those seeking to destroy Buhari on the basis of his certificates may end up destroying the country’s military as well.

Speaking on Tuesday through its spokesman, Lai Mohammed, the party alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Jonathan administration were playing a dangerous game by trying to compromise the military in order to satisfy political objectives.

It urged the military, as a symbol of national unity, to be wary of those who might be seeking to use it to achieve selfish and divisive ends.

The APC said the statement credited to Olajide Olaleye, army spokesman, at a press conference in Abuja, that the army was not in possession of Buhari’s certificates, was in direct conflict with what he said on January 4, on the same issue.

The party argued that in an interview with the Punch on January 4, Olaleye had said: “Every serving and retired army officer had at least a copy of his certificates kept with the Nigeria army while the same serving and retired officer had copies of those same certificates.”

APC further stated: “Is Brig-Gen Olaleye now saying that he did not make that statement? If he did, what has happened between then and now to make him to recant? It will be interesting to know what has transpired between then and now.

“But more worrisome is the statement credited to Brig-Gen Olaleye that there was no evidence that the certificates of all those who joined the army in the early 1960s were verified by the selection board.

“Is he now saying that all those who were commissioned into the officer cadres in the 1960s did not have their certificates verified? Does this not confirm what we said that in trying to destroy Buhari, the PDP and the Jonathan administration will end up destroying the army as an institution? Or is it only Buhari that was commissioned into the army in the 1960s.”

It quoted Buhari as saying in an affidavit on November 24, 2014 that “All my academic qualifications documents as filled in my presidential form, president APC/001/2015 are currently with the secretary military board as at the time of this affidavit”.

“Those who are behind the latest controversy should now tell Nigerians what happened to Buhari’s certificates between the time of his affidavit and now,” the party said.

“In any case, even if the army now says it does not have the certificates of Buhari, he is still very qualified to run for the country’s highest office, as stipulated by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.”

The party quoted Section 131 (d) of the constitution: “A person shall be qualified for election to the office of president if he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent”.

It said the meaning and interpretation of school certificate level or its equivalent can be found in the constitution under part IV, section 318. In that section, a ‘school certificate or it equivalent’ is defined quite succinctly thus:
(a) A secondary school certificate or its equivalent, Grade II Teacher’s certificate, the city and guilds certificate; or
(b) Education up to secondary school certificate level; or
(c) Primary six school leaving certificate or its equivalent.

“Olaleye had now confirmed that Buhari indeed applied to join the army from form six, that the principal of the school he attended even attested to his suitability, and that the form he filled contained his secondary school certificate results, there is no scintilla of doubt about his qualification to run for president as stipulated by the constitution,” APC said.

“However, we know that the PDP and the Jonathan administration have constituted themselves into a court of law and will like nothing more than the disqualification of our candidate so they will face no challenge in next month’s election. This is wishful thinking,” party said.
It said the PDP and the Jonathan administration should “expend their energy on how to revive their floundering campaign instead of seeking the disqualification of its candidate.”

On the contradictions in the statements credited to the army spokesman, it said: “It is true that our once globally-respected military has now been made comatose by the PDP-led federal government, but we believe things have not reached the level where the same military will be engaging in actions that amount to self destruction, just to satisfy some political interests.

“We believe things have not reached a level where we, as a nation, will now be giving the impression that a man who rose to become a major-general in the Nigerian army does not have requisite qualifications?

“What really is happening in our country if some politicians have now decided to engage in an action that will amount to dragging the military into politics, dividing an institution that is a symbol of national unity, trivialising the service of those who fought to keep Nigeria one and ridiculing the same country it is supposed to be ruling?

“We have said it before and will like to repeat: Enough is enough about this distraction orchestrated by the PDP and the Jonathan administration whose electioneering campaign for next month’s polls has suffered a train wreck.”