₦airaland Forum

OP, what do you gain by posting misleading and sensational topic headlines? The actual story says nothing about the country but the military, it's very clear in the first paragraph. How did you arrive at your premise?

Do you think educational achievements are required to be a good president? The United States has no minimum academic qualifications needed before someone can run for president. The work of a president is basically to appoint good administrators, to make tough decisions and to set a good example as a leader. It is more important for a president to have common sense than to have education.

Ikengawo:
She wants us to make someone who can't even read her school work president of 160 million people. .meanwhile the president of Ghana is college grad.

Has every single president of Ghana been a college grad? For example, Jerry Rawlings was a military officer not a college grad.

Legally, if the state government built the stadium then they have administrative oversight and control over its use. They can deny anybody no matter how highly placed because there is no legal right to use a stadium. However, if the APC has used the same stadium for their own rally just recently then it becomes a moral issue. The governor should allow the PDP the same benefit.

hedonistic:
My friend, there are too many fallacies in this submission of yours. Apart from shifting the burden of proof (by suggesting that Buhari does not need to prove that he attended secondary school), your suggestion that he could not have been employed by the military (an institution that, like all others in Nigeria has always been blighted by corruption, tribalism, and nepotism) is ridiculous, more so considering the period when Buhari enlisted.

Besides, using the opinions of "experts" like Prof. Sagay to buttress your point is also fallacious as that does not constitute conclusive fact in any way. More so as other equally eminent constitutional lawyers (for example Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and Mike Ozekhome (SAN) have separately stated that Buhari risks disqualification for failing to meet the REVISED requirements of INEC for the 2015 elections and onwards. Or will you argue that Prof. Sagay's opinion is more valid than other equally distinguished SANs such as Agbakoba?

I have not shifted the burden of proof. In law the burden of proof always lies with the accuser. A prosecutor cannot take an accused armed robber to court and say "prove you are not an armed robber." The prosecutor has the burden of proof not the accused, that is actually where the presumption of innocence legal doctrine comes from. If PDP takes Buhari to court, it's for them to prove his guilt not for him to prove his innocence.

I didn't say he absolutely couldn't have been employed without a certificate. I said he can use as a defense to answer the charges the fact that the army screened him and found him qualified to join the military. Like the army spokesman said the military has a screening process where they verify the credentials of recruits before enlisting them. His explanation that his certificates were carted away by soldiers under IBB after he was deposed is a plausible one. Likewise, the military board could have had a copy of his certificate at one time and then later lost it. These are all plausible scenarios which create reasonable doubt.

The opinions of lawyers and SANs remain their opinions. My point was that there are eminent lawyers who hold opinions on both sides of the argument, so don't talk like it's a done deal for your side of the case.

Finally you misunderstand the legal role of INEC in controversial issues like these. The Supreme Court has ruled that INEC cannot disqualify candidates. They can make rules but those rules can be later found to be unconstitutional. The revised requirements of INEC asking for candidates to display their credentials may actually be unconstitutional or at the very least extra-constitutional. It may likely not hold up in a competent court of law.

mrjangaweed:
He's not fit to govern us QED

Speak for yourself bro. Many of us fellow Nigerians disagree.

mrjangaweed:
But he's better than your Hopless dying illiterate general

Osinbade

My pellow quantri pfeople

Yet he's the one running for president in real life and you're the one running your mouth on nairaland. Please don't compare yourself to people who have achieved more than you can even dream of.

hedonistic:
On the contrary, it is you who does not have sufficient understanding of the law. An affidavit is not a magical document that automatically ends all argument and renders all enquiry unnecessary. Instead, an affidavit is merely a signed document wherein a person makes a sworn statement concerning a specific matter.

Buhari did not swear in his affidavit submitted to INEC that his certificates got missing or destroyed at some point. He swore that his certificates were in the possession of the Secretary of the Military Board. As you would know by now, earlier today, the Army High Command released a statement stating that it DOES NOT have Buhari's secondary school certificate (original or photocopy) in its possession. What does that tell you?

Buhari's case is even more complicated than I reckoned. Not only is he unqualified to contest for ANY electoral position in the land (let alone the presidency), he also evidently committed the criminal offence of perjury by lying under oath!

The onus is not on the PDP to prove that Buhari does of have a certificate. The onus is on the PDP to (1) simply tender evidence indicating that Buhari did not fulfil the requirements of the law (by appending a copy of his qualification to his INEC form); and (2) Provide evidence (using Buhari's own affidavit and the Army's statement today) to show that Buhari lied under oath. Either way, it is really easy to throw this Buhari of a man man under the bus. His case is extremely week to the point of ridiculousness.

He is not constitutionally required to append his qualification to his INEC form. He is only required by law to have the said qualification, which is a senior school leaving certificate or its equivalent. Several experts in law including the eminent constitutional lawyer Prof. Itse Sagay have made the submission that Buhari's cadet training, military courses and war college diploma already supersede that requirement.

The issue is not as cut and dried as you think. Contrary to what you maintain, PDP has to show conclusive evidence that Buhari does not have the required certificate. All Buhari has to assert is that without the said certificate he could not have been employed by the military and without the minimum requisite education he could not have performed creditably well in his subsequent academic pursuits.

You don't understand the law. He who asserts must prove. If PDP takes Buhari to court accusing him of not having a WAEC certificate then the onus is on them to prove their case in court beyond a reasonable doubt. Buhari actually doesn't have to prove anything. His affidavit is a legal court endorsed document and suffices for election purposes.

Zellie:
LOL. PDP doesn't control PASTOR Yemi Osinbajo's account

He was the one that tweeted it. Check FP and see the tweet

Are you sure it was his official account? A lot of fake accounts are popping up on Twitter this election season.

49cents:
MAYBE U SHOULD READ BETWEEN THE LINES OF MY STATEMENTS.....U TAG THAT CUBAN AND NORTH KOREAN ELECTIONS DEMOCRACY.....EVEN YOU LINKSM THANKS TO MY NUDGE, CONFIRMS MY POSITION

Criticism[edit]
The elections have been variously described as show elections, a type of veto election,[citation needed] or a political census.[8] Seats are uncontested (or alternatively, uncompetitive) as all candidates are chosen and won by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.[3][5][7]

A voter may cross off the candidate's name to vote against him, but must do so in a special booth without any secrecy; according to many North Korean defectors, such an act of defiance is too risky to even attempt.[6]

The elections we have in Nigeria are not much better than those ones.

Seun:
Did Murtala's coup terminate a democratic government? (Answer: no)

I knew you would say that. If you have a philosophical objection to coups in general then you have to remain consistent, otherwise you cease to be objective. I could make the argument that Shagari's government had about as much legitimacy as Gowon's. The 1983 election was arguably the most flawed in Nigeria's history. Simply being sworn in after a supposed set of elections is not enough to confer the status of being democratic to any government.
Shagari's government was not democratic, it was civilian. We have not yet had a truly democratic government in Nigeria but hopefully soon we will.

49cents:
WHO TOLD YOU THAT THEY HOLD ELECTIONS IN NORTH KOREA AND CUBA.....PLEASE GOOGLE IS YOUR FREIND

But Google is obviously not your friend though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_North_Korea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Cuba

Seun:
General Buhari has not denied his share of responsibility for the coup. He was aware of the coup before it happened and he supported it.

In that case then Obasanjo was also guilty because he was aware of and gave tacit support to Murtala's coup. He transitioned into a civilian president in 1999 and I've never seen you or anybody else raise the issue.

holatin:
you are a disgrace to we Yoruba, you idiotic fellow, you remember what you said to me d other day, DAT am not respecting an elder statesman.

Ask yourself DO I DESERVE RESPECT ?

OPONU AGBA !

Don't mind him jare. People like him are very hungry and GEJ has been feeding them. They don't want their food to stop coming.

spankyflex:
mehn this your statement is ridiculous, how on earth is loosing election by the ruling Patty democracy?

They have elections in North Korea, Cuba, China, Vietnam and Eritrea. One party always wins so those countries are not democracies. If people vote and the ruling party rigs the election in their favour that is not democracy.

Buhari was not involved in the planning or execution of the 1983 coup. He was invited to be head of state by other officers after the coup had been carried out.

Seun:
No democracy in the world isn't constantly abused. No democracy is free of corruption. All mature democracies have faced these problems.

Nigeria is not yet a democracy. Even President Jonathan himself admitted that the country has never conducted any free and fair elections since 1960. You're making an issue about coups but stolen elections are just as bad if not much worse. Forcing yourself on the people as their leader whether by bullets or by ballots should not be tolerable in this day and age.
Until ruling parties begin to lose elections with some regularity and government begins to transition from one party to another, Nigeria is still an autocracy not a democracy. Democracy is about the freedom to choose your own leaders and we don't have that yet in Nigeria.
PDP needs to lose this election for that to begin to happen.

Military interventions in governance are never okay, but 1983 is not 2015. The national consciousness has matured significantly since that time. In 1983 we used to execute criminals in public by firing squad; bar beach show. Crowds of people used to come out in droves to watch for entertainment, including small children. If that happened today, most people would be disgusted, same thing with coups.
You cannot hold GMB to a standard of national ethics which did not exist at the time and he was only answering the question in historical context. Many people came out on the streets to celebrate and show their support for the 1983 coup, especially Nigerian students. The same would not happen today.

It is shameful that the military has decided to be used a political pawns in PDP's game. I personally did not expect them to have retained a copy of the general's WASC for 54 years, but they are responsible for ascertaining without any doubt that a new employee has all the required qualifications. How do we know that they didn't use to have a copy of the certificate and lost it?
This response puts their own integrity and neutrality on the line not Buhari's.

Jennynkk:
I am a Nigerian but based in Austria. When I heard that Buhari was coming out for presidency under the APC i was happy because I felt that will give PDP a lot of heat and make them to sit up. I came home recently and got my PVC and reserved it for Buhari until now.

I am presently pursuing my PHD over here but since I heard and read that Buhari hadn't the minimum requirement SSCE, it was then that I lost hope for the party called APC for ever fielding a man like Buhari, who is in my estimation more or less a stark illiterate. Why has APC failed to field sound minds like Fashola, Oshomole, Ngige, Fayemi et al? I am sick and tired of APC and their gimmicks. There is no way a Buhari can value educational system because he hardly know what education is about unlike GEJ

On this note I desist from this moment to support Buhari and I reserve my vote for GEJ because he appears well educated and will give more attention to education because he knows the end product unlike Buhari who thinks that quota system is still working even in the 21st century.

Stop lying you have never supported Buhari. I doubt if even any single word of what you posted here is true. PhD indeed.

JudismphD:
Apc having sleepless night. Truth is bitter. Is buhari not a dying man?

There is no man that is not a dying man. There is nothing that says either Fayose or even yourself will not die before Buhari. Death is nothing to joke about and is definitely not something to use in any serious campaign.

bxcode:
Tell that to those our brothers up there in the north that believes that power is their birthright and see the reply you gon get.

The north voted massively for MKO Abiola against their own Bashir Tofa in 1992. The north voted for Obasanjo in 1999. The north voted for Jonathan in 2007. The north has a good record of voting for southerners. Born to rule fallacy is a lie!

For goodness sakes! What is wrong with Nigerians? How do you benefit and how does the country benefit just because a person from your own tribe is the president? Shouldn't competence be more important? I don't understand this kind of primitive thinking. How can the country move forward when so many people think like this?

Joejonah:
The North should hold Amaechi responsible, if my husband dies -
Aisha Buhari
Following the collapse of General Muhammadu Buhari in Calabar
in Cross River State.
Mrs Aisha Buhari; the wife of the APC presidential candidate
General Muhammed Buhari has called on the northern elites to
hold Gov. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi responsible should anything
happens to her husband.
" My husband is almost 80 years old. The 72 years is an official
age to prevent an early retirement in the Nigeria Army.
The man is actually 79 years and would be 80 this year. He is not
strong to go through this campaign. They are simply torturing my
husband. They keep reassuring me that drugs can sustain him.
For Gov. Babatunde Raji Fashola to consider Jimi Agbade at 57
old, and my husband Buhari at 79 fit, is simply a conspiracy to
make me a widow before my time.
Please I'm calling on the Northern elites to plead with Gov.
Amaechi and the leadership of the APC to kindly substitute my
husband, because he's not fit to contest this election. When I was
told his credentials were not in sight, I was jubilant because I felt
that would have automatically disqualified him from the contest."

All liars shall partake in the lake of fire and eternal torment. Repent of your lies or perish.

publicenemy:
islam

How is this Islam? Iraq and Jordan that were playing the soccer game, are they not Muslim countries?

menesheh:
Menn u are not far from the truth


Buh who give a f≠ck the number of like


My ascension is that it is almost impossible to win an incumbent president in Africa.

Don't worry, the impossible is about to happen.

OP is obviously a paid PDP agent.

priscaoge:
Call it anything....Goodluck is working

The sleeping president. Shey na now he suppose just wake up abi? If he wins (God forbid) he will just go back to sleep again.

kendrick9:
Gej is the right man for us,that i'm sure of.

He is the right man for you if you want to steal public funds and get away with it.

Because they are either ignorant, partisans or bigots. Ignorant people don't know how much damage Jonathan has done to Nigeria. They are still distracted by side issues. Partisans will never vote for a person of the other party and bigots will never vote for a person of the wrong tribe or religion.

Thank you Mr. Dotun Oloko for exposing the fraudulent charlatan we have as a president. Corruption is part and parcel of Jonathan's agenda. His reign of impunity will end this May by God's grace.