PDP Tells Buhari To Submit WAEC Certificate To Tribunal

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to tender his West African Examination Certificate (WAEC) to the presidential election petition tribunal.

Naija News reports that the request by the PDP was in reaction to comments made by Festus Keyamo (SAN), that one does not necessarily need a WAEC certificate to become President of Nigeria.

This online news platform recalls that Keyamo, who was the spokesperson of the 2019 Buhari Campaign Organization (BCM),  made this comment on Sunday night when he appeared on Channels Television.

While answering questions on the eligibility of President Muhammadu Buhari to contest the presidential election, Keyamo said if you have occupied the public office for a reasonable length of time, you do not need a WAEC certificate to become president of Nigeria.

His words: “There are other levels of qualifications to run for the office of President. In fact, if you have occupied the public office for a reasonable length of time, by the provisions of the constitution, you do not even need a WAEC certificate to become President of Nigeria.

“It becomes extremely foolish for anybody who is not statutorily empowered to issue WAEC certificates to come and challenge the body that has the statutory power to issue certificates,” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria had said.

However, reacting, PDP in a statement on Monday by its spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan, called on Nigerians to note that by claiming that an aspirant does not need WAEC certificate, but the ability to speak English, to contest for the office of the President, the Buhari Presidency, through Keyamo, has finally admitted that President Buhari does not have a WAEC certificate as he claimed in his INEC documentation.

The main opposition party, therefore warmed APC campaign spokesperson to stop “insulting” the sensibility of Nigerians, noting that: “An attempt to deceive the public using a defective reading and skewed interpretation of a section of the constitution cannot exonerate President Buhari.

“Moreover, Section 295 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is very clear on issues of interpretations and reference to questions of law.

“The PDP, therefore, maintains that the onus is on President Buhari, as ‘Mr. Integrity’ to tender the certificate he claims to possess before the tribunal instead of this lame diversion from Presidential aides

“It’s completely inexcusable for President Buhari to swear to an affidavit to claim an educational qualification he did not possess,” the statement added.