By imhontu Olumense

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has made clear the requirements that an aspirant seeking to contest the office of Governor must possess to qualify to run in the election.
INEC Chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood made the criteria known again ahead of the governorship election in Edo State which has been generating controversy on the issue of the requirements that an aspirant must meet. Yakubu stated the criteria during the second virtual consultative meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, on Wednesday.
According to the INEC Chairman, a candidate nominated by a political party must be a Nigerian citizen by birth. The person must have attained the age of 35. Such person must be a member of and sponsored by a political party. The person must be educated up to at least School Certificate level or equivalent. Those were the four criteria emphasized by Yakubu for a candidate to be qualified to contest for Governor in line with the minimum requirements as contained in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). It means that whoever meets these criteria is qualified to run for the office of the Governor without any hindrance.
This clarification becomes necessary going by the drama that played out during the screening of the aspirants for the primary of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Edo State. During that screening, the incumbent Governor, Godwin Obaseki was disqualified. According to the screening committee, Appeal committee and the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, Obaseki was disqualified mainly due to discrepancies in his certificates. The emphasis was on Obaseki's High School Certificate(HSC), his first degree from the University of Ibadan (UI) and then his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate.
Meanwhile, Obaseki insisted that his certificates were authentic. UI stated publicly that Obaseki was their student and was issued the first degree after graduating from the institution in 1979. The screening committee admitted that the omission of one letter in Obaseki's NYSC discharge certificate might be an error from the issuing institution, that is, the NYSC. But it said that Obaseki did not take steps to correct it. Which means the committe did not expressly say that Obaseki's NYSC certificate is fake.
The most important point is that, to qualify to run for the office of the Governor according to the constitution which is supreme, one needs to be educated up to school certificate level or its equivalent. That was the major point as emphasized by the INEC Chairman concerning academic requirement. For now, that is the major academic requirement. It did not even say that the candidate must pass. No, it did not say that. The candidate just have to be educated up to the school certificate level or its equivalent. That is all. Other requirements do not have to do with academic qualification.
Based on that, all these certificate issues against Obaseki should not come up in the first place. This is because the certificates are all above school certificate level. They are all higher academic certificates which are not required for one to contest for Governor for now pending when the constitution is amended to require higher academic certificate. As for the HSC, Obaseki showed that he attended the programme. This analysis is necessary because some people are saying that no other political party can field Obaseki as their governorship candidate based on what the APC said made them disqualify him.
In fact, the APC even said that they would go to court if any other party fields Obaseki as its governorship candidate. That would be opposition taken too far by the ruling party. The APC is most likely to lose if it does that. The court knows the minimum requirements to contest for Governor as pointed out again by INEC. In fact, even if they drag Obaseki to court, INEC is still going to be called in to testify or INEC will be joined as a party in the suit. INEC will still state the requirements and defend its decision to accept Obaseki because he met the stipulated requirements to contest.
As plans are on ground for Obaseki to defect to another party to seek reelection, it is necessary that he and the party he is joining weigh all these and be assured that he is qualified to contest. They should not be bothered about the reasons why APC disqualified him. If APC had disqualified Obaseki for forgery and the party was able to prove that the Governor forged any of his certificates, then, it would be a solid reason against him. In that case, one or more of the issuing institutions like UI, NYSC or others would have testified against Obaseki saying that it did not issue him the certificate in question. But that was not the case.
So, Obaseki should make up his mind to join any party of his choice that accepts him. From the look of things, the Governor is most likely to join the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Obaseki has made some moves to suggest that. Moreover, there are reports that he is in high powered negotiations with the leaders of the party and other key decision makers. Obaseki would want to discuss with the powers that be in PDP the possibility of getting the the party's governorship ticket before he officially defects to the party. That would be a wise decision to take so that he would get concrete assurance of the PDP's ticket before he defects to the party.
This is also necessary because there is no time to waste. In fact, INEC Chairman also announced Saturday June 27, 2020 as the deadline for all the participating political parties in the Edo election to conclude their primaries. Yakubu made that known during the virtual consultative meeting in Abuja on Wednesday. Also, parties are to submit the names and other details of their candidates for the election latest by 6pm on Monday, June 29, 2020. With the deadline for primaries less than 10 days from now, Obaseki has to make a very quick decision of whether to remain in the APC amid its Acting National Chairmanship crisis or defect to another party which is most likely going to be the PDP.
This is because the APC, the PDP and other parties will be quick to conduct their primaries so as to meet the deadline. APC will do its primary on June 22. PDP and others will follow suit. There is no time to waste. It is a battle very crucial to Obaseki as he fights to secure a second term in office amid stiff oppositions on his way.
What are your thoughts on this article? Feel free to drop your comments.

It's would be more glorious for him, Obaseki, to contest that election on a different platform and lose than in APC and win. After all the drama, I heard one of the many Acting National Chairmen is trying to rescind the disqualification. APC my ass.

Even if he run, court injunctions might removed because of his certificate and other hiding secrets the APC have of him

Following

Ok

obaseki's issue is not about his waec,UI and NYSC certificates as erroneously believed in some quarters. it actually borders on the authenticity of the HSC with which he gained admission to UI. Until he's able to prove the authenticity which from all indications look seemingly impossible, handling him any party's ticket would amount to nonparticipation in the governorship election proper.

Hmmm

BlowYourMind:
Even if he run, court injunctions might removed because of his certificate and other hiding secrets the APC have of him[

What other hidden secrets apart from the unfounded lies peddled by his traducers, the APC ?

Another
Pragmatic
Conconbility

The deed has already been done. NO REMEDY

[s]

ThatFairGuy:
The deed has already been done. NO REMEDY

[/s]
shatap

Afonjas and Tinubu slaves will not like this!

Olugbanko:
obaseki's issue is not about his waec,UI and NYSC certificates as erroneously believed in some quarters. it actually borders on the authenticity of the HSC with which he gained admission to UI. Until he's able to prove the authenticity which from all indications look seemingly impossible, handling him any party's ticket would amount to nonparticipation in the governorship election proper.

U pple keep shifting d goalpost

moderatedguy:
U pple keep shifting d goalpost

where was the goalpost before now mr?

Olugbanko:
where was the goalpost before now mr?

The guys were hammering on the UI cert. B4.Its now the HSC cerf.For your info HSC is like JUPEB/IJMB of now.Are you now telling me now that since the regime of HSC cerf no longer persist Obaseki HSC Cert is forged.You guys are just jobless.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/11759066_e3e7fd81c7eb4c01be5afbef2e388436_jpeg_jpeg2c441175c53fdea0e725e6f8812e19c3

Nice Article I must say!,. APC as a party knows fully well that Oshiomhole made a great mistake.

For those people shouting APC will defeat him in court, should note that their party APC is already divided no authentic acting CHAIRMAN. Both National or State, how do they want to take him to court? In the eyes of the Law, APC has no candidate.

moderatedguy:
The guys were hammering on the UI cert. B4.Its now the HSC cerf.For your info HSC is like JUPEB/IJMB of now.Are you now telling me now that since the regime of HSC cerf no longer persist Obaseki HSC Cert is forged.You guys are just jobless.

gainfully employed guy, have you ever set your sights on obaseki's hsc? he probably showed you in private. you think we're all as daft as you are...mtcew!

wow

Olugbanko:
gainfully employed guy, have you ever set your sights on obaseki's hsc? he probably showed you in private. you think we're all as daft as you are...mtcew!

You are very stupid.,...don't u see dat you being blinded by chronic asslicking . Obaseki says he has d HSC cert. But you are arguing the reverse becos ur Oga Oshiomhole said so.Bloody thug

Olugbanko:
obaseki's issue is not about his waec,UI and NYSC certificates as erroneously believed in some quarters. it actually borders on the authenticity of the HSC with which he gained admission to UI. Until he's able to prove the authenticity which from all indications look seemingly impossible, handling him any party's ticket would amount to nonparticipation in the governorship election proper.

Clearly Obaseki forged his HSC results that he used to gain UI admission. I predict the he will simply submit his school certificate result to INEC to meet the minimum requirements. Oshiomole, Ize Iyamu, APC are too loathed at this point in Edo state to hope for anything more than 20% of the votes. It is no longe about Obaseki for Edo people. It has become a cause same as Amotekun was to the South West.

d people; are they d cabal or d masses?

moderatedguy:
You are very stupid.,...don't u see dat you being blinded by chronic asslicking . Obaseki says he has d HSC cert. But you are arguing the reverse becos ur Oga Oshiomhole said so.Bloody thug

without mincing words,you're as stupid as the treacherous obaseki! and you know what? you're both headed for perdition! since you claim to know more than obaseki,can you tell us the institution where he obtained the imaginary hsc? also,you can do well by telling us why he claimed never to have received a copy,either original or photocopy. sense has eluded you boy!

jerseyboy:
Clearly Obaseki forged his HSC results that he used to gain UI admission. I predict the he will simply submit his school certificate result to INEC to meet the minimum requirements. Oshiomole, Ize Iyamu, APC are too loathed at this point in Edo state to hope for anything more than 20% of the votes. It is no longe about Obaseki for Edo people. It has become a cause same as Amotekun was to the South West.

the moment he decides to contest without mention of his UI certificate, APC's allegation becomes confirmed. if in the alternative he decides to contest using his acquisition of a degree as a basis,I can bet you he would be disqualified from contesting the election proper. either way,he's a sure goner!