Updated: February 26, 2021
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has claimed he successfully graduated from high school in a form he submitted to the electoral body for re-election, but as he did four years ago, Mr Buhari has been unable to present a single copy of his certificate.
He has come up with many stories. First that he lost his certificates when his residence was raided in 1985 when he was overthrown, then that they were with the Nigerian army where he retired as a Major General.
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But even as President and head of the armed forces, Mr Buhari has not been able to show a proof he completed high school.
On Monday, the opposition People’s Democratic Party said enough was enough and announced it was going to court to establish the truth.
The Presidency reacted in a statement to TODAY NEWS AFRICA in Washington DC, saying that it was a distraction.
Read full statement below
We have read that the failed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is going to court to challenge the President’s West African School Certificate (WASC).
This is a waste of time because we have the record of this and of higher qualifications obtained by hard work and truly merited by Mr President.
This certificate story is an old one. As Femi Adesina stated clearly, it is a settled issue in the courts. To approach the court to pursue a matter long settled by the temple of justice is an abuse of the judicial system. It is shameful, disgusting and disgraceful.
It is clear to all at this time that the PDP, facing an imminent humiliating defeat wants to sow division and chaos by seeking the destruction of the institutional structures that support our young democracy.
They are attacking the courts and the police, they are molesting INEC commissioners. They are theatrical in spreading falsehoods against persons including the President.
By doing these, they assume that they can take away attention from the discussions on issues gaining momentum in the country; the issue of internal security which has been jeopardized by years of near-zero investment under 16 years of the PDP; the provision of long-delayed infrastructure which the President is pioneering; corruption to which the PDP is incurably tied and the sustenance of the prevailing good days in the economy, a business-friendly government working day and night, creating more jobs and affordable life for the poor.
This election isn’t about the settled issues of certification.
No matter how honeyed their sweet words, don’t believe them.
Their evil record can never be washed away. The PDP set a record of murdering opponents of government and corruption on a scale never seen anywhere before.
They put the national security at stake by diverting huge budgetary allocations to service their greed. Don’t believe their honeyed promises.
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President, (Media & Publicity), October 29, 2018
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