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COALITION of senior lawyers, led by Chief Amaechi Nwaiwu, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, to investigate alleged forgery of certificate by the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, with a view to prosecuting those involved if prima facie case is established against them.
The coalition addressed a press conference in Abuja, on Sunday, saying it was concerned about the need to ensure a credible electoral process according to law of the country.
Nwaiwu, who read a prepared text, observed that Buhari had filled on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) CF001 form that he possessed a West African Secondary School Certificate and consequently swore to an affidavit that all his academic qualifications were with the secretary of the Military Board.The coalition recalled that the military had, however, denied being in possession of either the original, certified true copy or photocopy of the credentials, while revealing that Buhari’s application to join the Army was endorsed by the principal of his school, who wrote: “I consider that Buhari will pass West African School Certificate with credits in English, Maths and three other subjects.”
Nwaiwu also noted that from the military’s record, Buhari’s claim of obtaining a West African School Certificate with credit in five subjects was made at the point of documentation after commissioning as an officer in 1961, but he ommitted Mathematics, “an attempt to conceal his non-qualification for commissioning into the officers cadre of the Nigerian Army.”
The lawyers added: “The University of Cambridge result sheet attached to the school result released by Government College (Pilot), Katsina, has an alteration on the Mathematics column, which suggests an attempt at concealment.
“The result sheet which was attributed to Cambridge examination body and released by Buhari’s former school is clearly a super imposition of one document on another. The column lines on the part where names are printed do not align with the ones on the blank columns, while there is an introduction of extraneous lines on some other columns.
“The document which was purported to have been made in the 60s, contains computer prints on one section, while the other section was handwritten.”
The lawyers pointed out that Nigeria was a state based on principles of democracy and social justice, noting sovereignty belonged to the people of Nigeria, from whom government, through the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria derived its power and authority.
Giving the legal interpretation of what constitutes school certificate and its equivalent, Nwaiwu said Nigerians had the right to ensure that persons contesting to rule them were qualified.
He added: “Where there is an allegation of forgery, the Nigeria Police have the powers on a complaint to investigate, interrogate and prosecute any person found to have committed forgery of a document or committed perjury.
“The Nigeria Police under Section 214 of the Constitution and the Police Act have the powers and duty to investigate and prosecute such offences.
“We call on the Inspector-General of Police to investigate, interrogate and prosecute any person upon a complaint found to have committed perjury or forgery of school certificate.
“Having relied on the school certificate, it has to be produced and not only a statement of result.”
The coalition similarly called on the police boss to investigate reported cases of forgery of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), which he noted was fundamental to the exercise of franchise by the citizens.
Other lawyers present at the briefing were Ibrahim Idris, Stefan Ewubare, Prince Chukwudi Oli, Ezinwa Agbada, Femi Motojesi and Benjamin Barau.
Source: Tribune
The coalition addressed a press conference in Abuja, on Sunday, saying it was concerned about the need to ensure a credible electoral process according to law of the country.
Nwaiwu, who read a prepared text, observed that Buhari had filled on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) CF001 form that he possessed a West African Secondary School Certificate and consequently swore to an affidavit that all his academic qualifications were with the secretary of the Military Board.The coalition recalled that the military had, however, denied being in possession of either the original, certified true copy or photocopy of the credentials, while revealing that Buhari’s application to join the Army was endorsed by the principal of his school, who wrote: “I consider that Buhari will pass West African School Certificate with credits in English, Maths and three other subjects.”
Nwaiwu also noted that from the military’s record, Buhari’s claim of obtaining a West African School Certificate with credit in five subjects was made at the point of documentation after commissioning as an officer in 1961, but he ommitted Mathematics, “an attempt to conceal his non-qualification for commissioning into the officers cadre of the Nigerian Army.”
The lawyers added: “The University of Cambridge result sheet attached to the school result released by Government College (Pilot), Katsina, has an alteration on the Mathematics column, which suggests an attempt at concealment.
“The result sheet which was attributed to Cambridge examination body and released by Buhari’s former school is clearly a super imposition of one document on another. The column lines on the part where names are printed do not align with the ones on the blank columns, while there is an introduction of extraneous lines on some other columns.
“The document which was purported to have been made in the 60s, contains computer prints on one section, while the other section was handwritten.”
The lawyers pointed out that Nigeria was a state based on principles of democracy and social justice, noting sovereignty belonged to the people of Nigeria, from whom government, through the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria derived its power and authority.
Giving the legal interpretation of what constitutes school certificate and its equivalent, Nwaiwu said Nigerians had the right to ensure that persons contesting to rule them were qualified.
He added: “Where there is an allegation of forgery, the Nigeria Police have the powers on a complaint to investigate, interrogate and prosecute any person found to have committed forgery of a document or committed perjury.
“The Nigeria Police under Section 214 of the Constitution and the Police Act have the powers and duty to investigate and prosecute such offences.
“We call on the Inspector-General of Police to investigate, interrogate and prosecute any person upon a complaint found to have committed perjury or forgery of school certificate.
“Having relied on the school certificate, it has to be produced and not only a statement of result.”
The coalition similarly called on the police boss to investigate reported cases of forgery of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), which he noted was fundamental to the exercise of franchise by the citizens.
Other lawyers present at the briefing were Ibrahim Idris, Stefan Ewubare, Prince Chukwudi Oli, Ezinwa Agbada, Femi Motojesi and Benjamin Barau.
Source: Tribune
