General Muhammadu Buhari during the press conference in
Kano.
Commencing his speech on Wednesday, the former head of
state after greeting the gentlemen of the Press, said he only
agreed to address the issues surrounding his educational
certificates because of the genuine concern expressed by
many supporters and other well-meaning Nigerians advising
him to do so, if not he (Buhari) would have dismissed it for
what it is – sheer mischief and would not have considered it
an issue worth the Nation’s while.
“I had assumed all along that all my records were in the
custody of the Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army. Much
to my surprise, we are now told that although a record of the
result is available, there are no copies of the certificates in my
personal file. This is why I formally requested my old school,
the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina Which is now known
as Government College, Katsina to make available the
school’s copy of the result of the Cambridge/West African
School Certificate. This will be made available to the Press the
moment this is available.
“However, before we obtain that, let me say for the record that
I attended Provincial Secondary School, Katsina. I graduated
in 1961 with many prominent Nigerians, including General
Shehu Yar’Adua, former chief of staff at the Supreme
Headquarters, and Justice Umaru Abdullahi, a former
President of the Court of Appeal. We sat for the University of
Cambridge/WASC Examination together in 1961, the year we
graduated. My examination number was 8280002, and I
passed the examination in the Second Division,” he said.
The APC presidential candidate, however, noted that though
the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) may want to wish
the aforementioned facts away, he stressed that the issue in
the campaign cannot be his certificate which he obtained 53
years ago.
Buhari said the issues rather are the scandalous level of
unemployment of millions of young Nigerians, the state of
insecurity, the pervasive official corruption which has
impoverished the people and the lack of concern of the
government of anything other than the retention of power at
all costs.
Meanwhile, the former head of state has been under a lot of
pressure lately over the certificate controversy as some
Nigerians and the ruling party continue to insist he provides it
in order to prove his educational background.
One of such calls recently came from a group called Northern
Youth Forum (NYF) who called on Buhari to submit his
educational certificates to the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC).
However, the APC presidential candidate in next month’s
elections while trying to shield some light on the subject
matter at a press conference held in Abuja during the
weekend wondered where his accusers were when INEC
cleared him to contest elections in 2003, 2007 as well as
2011.
source....naij.com

OK Buhari