PDP Presidential Campaign media director, Femi Fani Kayode says the
inability of APC presidential flag bearer, Gen Buhari to
produce his academic credentials to INEC indicates that his entire
career in the military was based on falsehood, a situation he says
brings to question the admission system into the army in the 1960s. FFK said this today while speaking to newsmen in Abuja
"It is
disingenuous for
Buhari to say that he contested previous elections and that the issue
of his qualifications did not arise. Had INEC not complied with the
Electoral Act this year, which requires that they paste the academic
credentials of all the presidential candidates, Nigerians would have
remained ignorant of the fact that Buhari has probably been submitting
affidavits for the past elections. The fact that he got away with it in
2003, 2007 and 2011 does not make
it right.
The minimum that Nigerians require from Buhari is the
presentation of his secondary school certificate which enabled him to
gain admission into the Nigerian Military College in 1962 and on which
basis he became a commissioned officer of the Nigerian army. This forms
the fulcrum for the subsequent courses that he attended as
he rose in the army, including the US War College. Failure to produce
that school certificate implies that Buhari’s entire career in the Army
was based on falsehood which cannot stand. This brings to question the
admission system/policy into the army in the early 1960s. Were the
rules bent for
certain individuals in fulfillment of the quota system?
Anyone that
reads General Alabi Isama’s book, which was published last year, will
know that this was the case. In fact, Alabi Isama went as far as to
allege that some Nigerians were admitted into the military academy
without the necessary qualifications like school certificate. We believe
that Buhari was one of those people and this is why he is
unable to produce his certificate. The truth is that he was never
qualified for entry into the military academy in the first place and
consequently he should never have become a commissioned officer let
alone a man that rose to the rank of general. At best he ought to have
remained a non-commissioned officer.
As long as he cannot produce that
secondary school certificate, we
believe that he is not qualified to run for the presidency of Nigeria.
This is a matter of law and not sentiment. Buhari, just like any other
Nigerian, must be compelled to abide by the law and he must prove his
eligibility for the presidential election by simply producing his
secondary school certificate.” he said