November 4, 2018
Press Statement
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says public demonstrations that the
Presidency may have procured a forged West African Examination Council
(WAEC) Certificate Attestation and Confirmation for President Muhammadu
Buhari is a huge smear on our nation’s integrity and the Office of the
President.
The party laments that the development has turned our nation into a
laughing stock in the West African sub-region and the entire global
community, as our President is now being mentioned as beneficiary of a
duplicitous act.
Most appalling is that Mr. President’s handlers have succeeded in
dragging a reputable institution as WAEC into public disrepute and
opprobrium, as Nigerians are quick to demonstrate marks of forgery in
the attestation issued by the examination body.
A check on the attestation clearly shows that it does not have the
“Original Certificate Number”, the key authentication feature in all
genuine attestations by WAEC. Instead, a “non-applicable” is entered,
indicating that the beneficiary does not have a certificate to be
attested to, thus rendering the said attestation unauthenticated, fake
and of no effect.
Also, the attestation is for West African Senior School Certificate,
which President Buhari couldn’t have sat for, given that the Senior
School Certificate Examination was established only in the late 1980s.
Does it not smack of high level scam that the same WAEC, which, in 2015,
confirmed that it does not have records of President Buhari’s
certificate, now had to send officials to present Mr. President with an
attestation, that has no original certificate number?
Moreover, by WAEC rules, attestations are only issued in the case of
missing or destroyed certificate. Why then should the exam body issue an
attestation to President Buhari, whose certificate, he claimed are with
the military and not missing or destroyed?
If not intended to circumvent the system and deceive Nigerians, why did
President Buhari’s handlers chose to write to WAEC to issue an
attestation when he, as the Commander-in-Chief, has the powers to direct
the military to make available his credentials for all to see.
What the unauthenticated attestation has shown is that Mr. President
does not have a WAEC certificate; we urge his handlers to humbly so
admit and apologize to the nation, having exhausted all gimmicks to
mislead Nigerians.
The Buhari Presidency should know that there is no way the truth can be
suppressed. In fact, the current disagreement between the Presidency and
WAEC over who initiated the attestation deal is also very revealing.
Finally, while the PDP urges WAEC to redeem its image by handing over
all its officials involved in the deal to the INTERPOL for investigation
and prosecution, it also calls on the Nigeria Police to immediately
invite Mr. President’s handlers for questioning over this huge national
embarrassment.
Enough is Enough!
Signed:
Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary
