October 26, 2018
Press Statement
PDP Challenges Buhari Over Fresh Certificate Saga…Charges Him To Do The Needful
Loading ...The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) charges President Muhammadu Buhari to
show proof of his vaunted integrity by presenting his academic
documents, if he has any, to the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) and put to an end his certificate saga.
The PDP also urges President Buhari to fulfil his obligation like other
Presidential candidates, instead of bugging the commission with
affidavits.
The PDP said while its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has
submitted his educational and other relevant documents to INEC,
President Buhari is rather seeking ways to short-circuit the system,
instead of complying with set rules.
Indeed, a situation where President Buhari has been dodging the
certificate issue raises huge questions of integrity, which demands that
he makes available his credentials, or apologize to Nigerians, if he has
none, so that the nation can move ahead.
President Buhari knows by now that Nigerians are no longer interested in
his claims in an affidavit wherein he stated; “I am the above-named
person and the deponent of this affidavit herein. All my academic
qualification documents as filled in my Presidential form, APC/001/2015
are currently with the Secretary of the Military Board as of the time of
this affidavit.”
PDP maintains that integrity strictly demands that President Buhari,
particularly as the commander-in-chief, writes to the military
authorities directing them to forward his claimed credentials to INEC,
as requisite evidence of compliance with a key requirement for election
into the Office of the President, under section 131 (d) of the 1999
Constitution (as amended).
That President Buhari and the previous INEC succeeded in circumventing
the law in 2015 does not make such acceptable in our current electoral
process.
Moreover, President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) must
realize that even their followers, that were beguiled in 2015, are
currently not prepared to accept ‘NEPA bill’ as WAEC certificate in the
2019 elections.
This is particularly as the certificate scandal contributes to the
erosion of Mr. President’s rectitude to check the humongous corruption,
ineptitude and recklessness among his officials which has brought the
nation to its knees under his administration.
Furthermore, President Buhari’s failure to tidy up such grey areas also
contributes to his inability to cultivate and earn the productive
followership of the youth and the respect of the international
community, resulting in retardation in national productivity and dearth
of international development partnership in the last three and half
years.
This situation has even been worsened by the revelations that President
Buhari’s ministers and aides parade forged certificates.
No country makes meaningful progress with persons with this educational
pedigrees in it’s leadeership.
The PDP, therefore, urges President Buhari to do the needful so as not
to cause any frictions that will put INEC under further pressure ahead
of the 2019 general elections.
Signed:
Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary
