The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has begged
Nigerians to pardon president Mohammadu Buhari over his WAEC
certificate issue, saying that the president might not have know where
he kept his WAEC certificate having graduated from secondary school
about 53 years ago.
Buhari’s educational qualification has been a topical issue even before
he unseated Jonathan as president back in 2015. At the time, the
president presented an affidavit to INEC claiming his result is with the
Nigerian Army.
Similarly, the president also failed to tender his WAEC result prior to
the recently concluded February 23rd presidential Elections. But the
People’s Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, unlike Jonathan, refused to concede defeat and is out in full
force to reclaim what he calls a stolen mandate.
Atiku’s resolve to reclaim his mandate has seen Buhari’s WAEC
certificate controversy resurfaced once again, and this time, it appears
the president is in serious trouble. Buhari’s inability to defend his
qualification in court has all the more, increases his chances of being
removed as president.
The President himself had recently told the Presidential Election
Petition Tribunal Court, PEPTC, that there is no law in Nigeria that
requires him to produce his certificates in a bid to prove his
eligibility to run for Presidency. This statement according to critics,
is a confirmation that Buhari indeed, has no WAEC certificate.
In self defense, Buhari argued that under the 1999 Constitution, he was
only required to be educated. But again, this claim by the president
holds no reasonable weight and incapable of saving the president.
Perhaps this explains why a renewed campaign such as #AtikuBusted was
trending on Twitter recently. Critics see this as a last move by the
presidency to hold on to a fading hope of defeating Atiku in the PEPT.
Another move by the presidency, is the appearing of Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed on Channels Television on
Thursday, where he argued that a man who finished secondary school about
53 years ago may not have known where he kept his WAEC certificate.
Mohammed then went low to plead with Nigerians to pardon President
Buhari who according to the Minister, left school after 53 years hence,
should be pardoned for his inability to know the whereabouts of his
Secondary School Certificate.
He said, “I think we should pardon him. Because he does not even known where he kept it.”