By Ochereome Nnanna THE raging certificate scandal of General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a big show of shame. It is making Nigeria a laughing stock out there. It shows that our laws are not supreme. The law is made for some people, while some people are not only above it but also ride it like an ass. Section 131 of the Nigerian Constitution (1999) spells out conditions for a person to qualify for the office of President of Nigeria. It says at 131 (d):”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”. Elucidating upon this constitutional provision, the extant Electoral Act, Section 31 (2 to (5) holds as follows:“The list of information submitted by each candidate shall be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidate at the Federal High Court, High Court of a state or the FCT, indicating that he has fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into that office” (3) “The Commission shall within 7 days of the receipt of the personal particular of the candidate publish same in the constituency where the candidate intends to contest” (4) “A person may apply to the Commission for a copy of nomination form, affidavit and any other document submitted by a candidate at an election and the Commission shall, upon payment of a prescribed fee, issue the person with a certified copy of the documents within 14 days”(5) “Any person who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information given in the affidavit or any document submitted by that candidate is false may file a suit at the Federal High Court, High Court of a state or FCT against such person seeking a declaration that the information contained in the affidavit is false” (6)” If the court determines that any of the information contained in the affidavit of any document submitted by that candidate is false, the court shall issue an order disqualifying the candidate from contesting the election.”One does not need to be a lawyer to know that this explicit law requires prospective candidates for election to show proof of their qualification to contest for any office. Certificates are usually proof of all academic qualifications. Because we have, over time, seen people making false claim of academic qualifications, that is why the Electoral Act demands that the documents submitted to INEC must be accompanied by an affidavit and shall be displayed where the candidate is contesting so that anyone who spots false claims can go to court and seek the candidate’s disqualification. Rather than Buhari submitting copies of his certificates he merely swore an affidavit claiming that his certificates are with the Military Board. By so doing, Buhari did not complete the primary requirement for qualification to contest the presidential election. If it were in those days when the INEC still had powers to disqualify candidates, it would have been duty-bound to disqualify him for failure to comply with the law. We all know that it is the duty of a job seeker to supply all necessary documents to prove he is qualified for a post. He does not refer the body interviewing him to go and collect his credentials from his former institutions or employers. They will see him as an unserious candidate and shut the door in his face. Buhari is applying to contest for the office of Chief Executive of the Federation and he cannot even prove that he has School Certificate, or any certificate for that matter! Each time officials and supporters of the APC come on radio and television to defend Buhari’s lack of compliance, they always flip-flop and come out thoroughly wet. That is what happens when you try to defend the indefensible. In one breath, they will say Buhari has been contesting presidential elections since 2003, why should the certificate become an issue now. They fail to realise that before now, the opposition was an easy ride for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The same thing cannot be said for the APC of today, which stands a very good chance, just as the PDP, of winning the presidential election. It is a different ball game. The fact that nobody cared to look before is no justification to question why they are looking now. That Nigerians now take academic qualification so serious is not in doubt. That was what led Salisu Buhari, a brilliant young man from Kano, to lose his seat as the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1999. The same certificate scandals have shadowed former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu and others. We will not come to Buhari, a man who once ruled this country and could get elected in next month’s election, and waive it. If Buhari forces his way to contest the presidential election without complying with the constitution and the electoral law, he will have trodden rough-shod on our laws. His government will be an illegitimate one. He will lack the locus to swear any oath with our constitution. If he cannot comply with the requirements of the constitution to contest for election where will he obtain the legal or moral backing to swear the oath to defend the constitution? Besides, what will the young people think of their president whose academic records are shrouded in mystery? Will they be inspired to go to school? Or will they believe that all it takes is for you to muscle your way like a thug into any position? What will the world see of a Nigerian president with questionable educational background? A country that produced Prof. Philip Emeagwali, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Prof. Chinua Achebe among others? Dr. Kwame Nkrumah once rebuked Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo: “You won independence for your country and handed it over to cattle-rearers”.Here we go again, and some people are clapping! -
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