- AS OUTGOING PRESIDENT UNDULY SUSPENDS TWO PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS

- CLEARS ONLY HIS STOOGE WHO HAS NO DIPLOMA CERTIFICATE

By Ikenna Nwagbara


The respected Aba Sports Club has been dragged into murky waters by its outgoing President, Chief Jerry Kalu, who is hell-bent on imposing his boy, one Greg Okafor, on the club even when the latter has been proven not to have the requisite academic qualification, which is a minimum of a tertiary education diploma certificate. The academic qualification of Chief Okafor had been a subject of little talks in the club until an investigative report unearthed that till this moment, Abia State Polytechnic has not issued any certificate to him, as he still has no fewer than six courses to rewrite as references.

With two days away from the December 1 election of the club, Greg Okafor's credentials, which he submitted to the management committee of club for the purpose of the election and displayed on the club's notice board, have proven that, far from possessing a diploma certificate, all that Okafor has is a mere paper signed by a girl, one Peace Ebere, which says it is an attestation that Greg "Okwuchukwu" Okafor is a student of Abia State Polytechnic but has not yet finished his program for the award of a diploma. Curiously, the section 8(b) of the Club Rule is explicit that, "Each Officer shall have a minimum academic qualification of tertiary education diploma certificate to qualify to hold office in the Club."

Recall that in order to pave the way for Greg Okafor who is his anointed candidate, the outgoing President, Jerry Kalu, had unduly suspended the frontline presidential contender, Chief Emeka Diwe, who he accused of having a manifesto. This immediately sparked off outrage in the club, with members also coming forward with the copies of the manifesto of Greg Okafor, which is a 4-page document named "Agenda for Action". Members have continued to query that if having a manifesto is a crime and the reason Diwe could be suspended from the club for having a manifesto while Greg Okafor who also has a manifesto and has shared same is left unpunished.

Similarly, another presidential aspirant, Barr. Uche Emeagwara, was slammed with suspension for daring to question the academic qualification of Greg Okafor. Barr. Emeagwara is already in court to challenge the impunity in the club, especially as perpetrated by the outgoing President, Jerry Kalu and his secretary, Darlington Nwokolo.

A member of the club who pleaded anonymity said,"We knew Greg Okafor has no certificate. We have written strong-worded petitions to the relevant regulatory bodies, including the ICPC, over this claim, because any document he tenders from Abia Polytechnic must have been forged and there must be severe consequences for that. We have also written to Abia State Polytechnic and warned them of the dire consequences. The searchlight of all these agencies are currently on Abia State Polytechnic. With the tissue paper Greg Okafor brought which says he is still a student, we have been vindicated. Greg will never be President of Aba Sports Club without having a certificate. He is still a student. His attestation which he submitted in lieu of certificate is very clear that he is a student who is yet to graduate. Let him go and sit for his remaining exams and pass them first. History will never be kind to anyone who has hand in this shameful and failed plot to impose an unqualified undergraduate on us as President of the prestigious Aba Sports Club.

A female member of the club who also declined to have her name in print hinted that another issue that plagues the club going into the election is the reported claim by Greg Okafor, that with his money he has purchased all the women in the club to elect him as President. In her words, "This is the height of insult to our pride and dignity as women. This is disrespectful to our husbands and our marriages. How can someone say he has bought me, a faithful wife of my husband? Am I for sale? Do I look beggarly? Am I a prostitute with easy virtue? Oh my God, I feel like crying!

"How do my fellow women feel when they hear that another man is claiming to have bought them with money? So what this man is saying is that he can also pay us to leave our husbands to follow him? This is not the Aba Sports Club I used to know! The big problem is that any woman who now supports this Greg Okafor is seen as a desperate and unfaithful woman who can do anything dirty for money. My brother, our image is seriously dented right now," she cried out.

Following the crisis which his dubious educational credentials have generated, Eyewitness News launched topnotch investigations into the academic records of Greg Okafor and came out with these facts. In 2017, obviously in preparation to become the President of Aba Sports Club, Greg Okafor went and registered for NECO examination at St. Michael's Comprehensive Secondary School, Aba with the registration number 18632794AC and name: Greg Okwuchukwu Okafor. However, almost all those in that academic set interviewed by our correspondent said they knew nothing about him in person, which indicates he might have written the exams and obtained the NECO certificate through a proxy. He went ahead to secure admission into Abia State Polytechnic in Aba for an evening program in the 2018/2019 academic session in the department of Business Administration and Management with following application number: ABP/NDP/18/0000015285.

However, in the records which he supplied to Abia State Polytechnic, his NECO English Language had been upgraded to C4. Further, in the first semester of his first year, Greg Okafor failed four courses, namely BAM 111, GNS 101, PUS111 and PAD 111/117. In the second semester, he failed another course, which is GNS 131/112, making it a total of five courses currently left uncleared in school. His second year, which is ND 2, has not yet got any results from the Polytechnic.

So, with five failed courses left to be rewritten and entire second year result left unpublished, our investigations can confirm authoritatively that as of today, Greg Okafor has not obtained an authentic tertiary Diploma certificate from Abia State Polytechnic to enable him run for the office of President of Aba Sports Club. Already, an aggrieved alumnus of the Polytechnic who is also a member of the club has hinted us that the claim by Greg Okafor of having a diploma certificate who he doesn't have has already been brought to knowledge of the Federal Ministry of Education.