All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday spoke out on the raging controversy on his secondary school certificate just as his former school, the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina, now known as Government College, released his result.
Addressing reporters in Kano, he said contrary to claims that he did not have the West African School Certificate (WASC), he sat for and passed the examination with Second Division as a pupil of Provincial Secondary School, now Government Secondary School, Katsina, in 1961.
Notwithstanding his defence, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) demanded that Buhari should be put on trial for perjury. Buhari, who spoke a day after the Army said it had no record of his WASC certificate, expressed surprise at the claim of the military. He also described as diversionary, the controversy engineered by the PDP over his WASC. He said: “I had assumed all along that all my records were in the custody of the Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army. Much to my surprise, we are now told that although a record of the result is available, there are no copies of the certificates in my personal file.
This is why I formally requested my old school, the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina (which is now known as Government College, Katsina), to make available the school’s copy of the result of the Cambridge/West African School Certificate.
This will be made available to the press the moment this is available.” Buhari also gave detail about his secondary school education, saying he graduated from Provincial Secondary School, Katsina in 1961 with many prominent Nigerians, including former Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, the late Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and a former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi.
He said they sat for the University of Cambridge/ WASC Examination together in 1961 and his examination number was 8280002. He criticised the PDP for turning his certificate into a campaign is-sue when it should have focused on how to make Nigeria better.
“And although the ruling party may want to wish this away, the issue in this campaign cannot be my certificate, which I obtained 53 years ago. The issues are the scandalous level of unemployment of millions of our young people, the state of insecurity, the pervasive official corruption which has impoverished our people and the lack of concern of the government for anything other than the retention of power at all costs,” he stated. Buhari urged the press to investigate his claims to unearth the truth “behind the baseless allegations.”
An online newspaper, Premium Times, in a report yesterday, said Buhari’s former school had released the result of his secondary school certificate examination. It said the statement of result dated January 21, 2015, was signed by the current principal of the college. The report, quoting from Buhari’s result, said he obtained five credits in English Language, Geography, Hausa Language, History and Health Science. The former head of state, however, failed in Mathematics and Woodwork and had a pass in Literature in English.
The examination centre number was 8280, while Buhari’s candidate number was 002. The statement of result is printed on the letter head paper of the Katsina State Ministry of Education and it shows that the examination took place in 1961 as Buhari had said earlier. Also, APC presidential screening committee Chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has dismissed claims that Buhari was not properly screened before the party allowed him to vie for its ticket.
Onu spoke in response to allegation that the committee did not carry its assignment well, which has brought embarrassment to the party. Onu, in a telephone interview, said the screening committee did its job well. He said:” I want to assure you that the screening committee did its work perfectly and don’t forget that we got our aspirants to sign undertaken and it has never happened before.” Also reacting to the allegation of shoddy screening by the committee, another member of the committee, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, dismissed the allegation. According to him, it is an attempt to smear the integrity of the committee members. Irrespective of the spirited defence of Buhari, the PDP yesterday called for his trial for perjury. Director, Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said at a press conference in Abuja that Buhari should be tried because he lied in the affidavit he swore to in which he claimed that his credentials were in the custody of the military.
“The implication of the action of this so-called “Mr. Clean” is nothing but perjury and we all know that this is grave criminal offence under our laws and constitution.
“We urge Buhari to do the right thing and tender an unreserved apology to the Nigerian people, thrown in the towel and report to the nearest policestation for interrogation and prosecution,” he said. According to him, Buhari has insulted the collective intelligence and integrity of Nigerians.
He also urged the Nigerian Armed Forces to consider the possibility of stripping him of his rank and privileges as he was not qualified when he joined the army.
According to him, “at best Buhari should never have been anything more than a non-commissioned officer.” Meanwhile, the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) has faulted the medical test purporting that Buhari has prostate cancer.
In a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Adeyeye Adetunji Tam, the association said the document on which the report was written was fake and at variance with that of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria.
According to the statement, the names of three ‘medical doctors’ seen on the report – Dr. Balla Mohammed, Dr. Gamji A and Dr. Bello are fake. “ABUTH has since reported that there are no such ‘medical doctors’ on their staff list. Efforts must be made to expose the fake medical doctors,” it added.
The association said it was not the professional duty of medical doctors to carry out routine or specialised medical laboratory tests on patients’ samples. “Neither is it their duty to approve nor sign such results as seen on the report forms. “This is the professional responsibility of Medical Laboratory Scientists registered and licensed to perform such professional duties,” it stated.
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