THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation has faulted the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, on his claim that his failure to present his certificate is a nonissue in the presidential election.

According to a statement issued by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Director of Media and Publicity of the Campaign Organisation in Abuja, on Monday, “it is disingenuous for Buhari to say that he contested previous elections and that the issue of his qualifications did not arise.”

The PDP Campaign Organisation noted that had the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not complied with the Electoral Act this year, which required that they pasted the academic credentials of all the presidential candidates, Nigerians would have remained ignorant of the fact that Buhari had probably been submitting affidavits for the past elections.

It said Buhari must be made to produce his certificate, noting that as long as the APC candidate failed to produce the document, the PDP would not believe he was qualified to be a candidate.

It added: “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.

“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.”