Qualification for election: What does the constitution really say?

Over the last few weeks, the news media, including social media platforms, have been inundated with the controversy over whether or not former military Head of States and presidential candidate of All Progressive Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari possesses the minimum educational qualification to run for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the coming February 14 general elections. LAW EDITOR, Adam Adedimeji explains certain provisions of the constitution many commentators have tried to close their eyes to

“A person shall be qualified for election to the Office of President if: (a) He is a citizen of Nigeria by birth; (b) He has attained the age of forty years; (c) He is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and (d) He has been educated up to at least SCHOOL CERTIFICATE LEVEL OR ITS EQUIVALENT (emphasis mine).” – Section 131 of the 1999 constitution

The above provision under Section 131, paragraph (a) – (d) of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria is what summarises conditions to be fulfilled by an aspirant to the position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The provision however has in the last few weeks become the most popularly cited section of the Nigerian constitution as well as a source of controversy. Different interpretations are therefore been given to the particular section either by way of misunderstanding, misrepresentation, misinterpretation or all of the above among political parties as well as its members in order to outdo one another in the fight for votes during the February 14 general elections.

This writer however curiously noticed that most commentators on the ‘controversial section’ failed to observe that “School Certificate level” as stated by the constitution is unclassified. Most of them only assumed it to be Secondary Leaving Certificate without bothering to find out what the constitution framers meant since it could also have meant Primary School Leaving Certificate.

Although it is said that all is fair in a contest, the fact that a constitutional provision is in place and its interpretation is to certain extent unambiguous, makes this particular altercations, irrespective of political nature in it an unfair game.

To fully understand the constitution, one needs to take a cursory look at the provisions of the constitution under Part IV, Article 318 (1) that deals with Interpretation, Citation and Commencement.

This particular part, that is, Part IV of the Constitution, interprets the meanings given by the framers of the constitution in order not to give way for unintended meanings to constitutional provisions as we are now witnessing in this circumstance.

In Chapter VIII, Part VI of the 1999 Constitution, Section 318 (1) gave a lucid interpretation to what the constitution meant by “School Certificate or its equivalent” thus:

“School Certificate or its equivalent” means-

(a) a Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, or Grade II Teacher’s Certificate, the City and Guilds Certificate; or

(b) education up to Secondary School Certificate level; or

(c) Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent and -

(i) service in the public or private sector in the Federation in any capacity acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for a minimum of ten years, and

(ii) attendance at courses and training in such institutions as may be acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for periods totaling up to a minimum of one year, and

(iii) the ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the English Language to the satisfaction of the Independent National Electoral Commission; and

(d) any other qualification acceptable by the Independent National Electoral Commission.”

In essence, constitutionally, a presidential contestant is eligible even if the only educational qualification he/she possesses is a mere “Primary Six School Leaving Certificate” or “the ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the English Language” or “service in the public or private sector in the Federation in any capacity acceptable to INEC for a minimum of ten years” or “attendance at courses and training in such institutions as may be acceptable to the INEC for periods totaling up to a minimum of one year.”

This is the present position of the law. Nigerians are however free to propose its amendment if there is a general believe that we need to increase qualification standard for would be presidential aspirants in Nigeria.

It's a pity that people like ojukwu are celebrated in this country.

Hw do you develop when you have a mentally ill man as governor.

ANGRY JONATHAN SHOUTED AT PDP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES

"If I cannot win through rigging, why should you? If I cannot help myself, why will I help you? The Bible says First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove from others....I can't rig for anybody and spoil the little honour I received in the last one week.....What are we even saying? I will rig for you now and by June, you will go and decamp to the APC? Go back to your states and meet your people, teach them how to use the card readers also. Thank you"- This Statement was allegedly made by Goodluck Jonathan while meeting with his Party Chieftains.

Oba you don't threaten anyone to vote for your candidate there is a better way of going abt it.you are not helping Ambode by doing that.

Include KWANKASO

Which region will the new speaker come from.do we hv apc house of rep members frm ss and se? If yes then I think one of them will get it

Shameless Asari

Unbelievable!!!!! Fayose praises Buhari, urges Nigerians to accept result.
source: premium times

The general is watching his victory

@op thanx for opening the educative thread.
JUMAT MUBARAK

I pity this man's children I wonder the kind of advice he will be giving them

I don't think dangote deserve to be on that list. When it comes to staff welfare it is zero

PEJ is too local 4 a first lady. Embarrassing her family and the country at large.

There's no living northerner that can pull crowd like GMB without spending a penny.

GEJ is working

GMB 2015

An Idiot doing what he was employed to do

PEJ what about your brainless husband.

PENDULUM BY DELE MOMODU, Email: dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com


Fellow Nigerians, miracles shall never end. That is the only way to describe the incredible story of Major General Muhammadu Buhari at this auspicious moment. No one could have envisaged or foretold the huge drama being enacted before our very eyes. It was not as if his popularity and cult-followership was ever in doubt but the general belief and assumption was that it was dominantly limited and restricted to a particular section or region of Nigeria. What was never expected was a cross-over appeal to all areas and segments of our nation.

Buhari’s fate as a perennial contestant was supposed to have been sealed by many debilitating factors. The first and most crucial till this day is on account of his odoriferous reputation as a coup plotter and rabidly draconian dictator who appeared mercilessly vengeful. Depending on whom you talked to in the past, Buhari conjured different images to varied people. Some saw him as an Angel who represented a sword of Damocles to the wicked and reckless politicians who wreaked havoc on Nigeria’s economy and wrecked the collective future of our citizens. But to others, he was a Luciferous character who must have escaped from the pit of hell to haunt God’s creatures on planet earth.
I will not attempt to bore you with well-rehashed tales of his cardinal sins, both real and imagined. They are in the realm of fables and mythology and already in public domain courtesy of his opponents and unrelenting attackers. But one can never gloss over the allegations of religious bias and intolerance. If possible, many would want us to see and hold Buhari as Nigeria’s version of Osama bin Laden who was regarded as the world’s most notorious terrorist. Buhari would forever bear the cross of ever defending his personal faith and the interests of his Northern people like most of us would normally do. Many quotable quotes have been ascribed to him but most have never been properly validated by his accusers thus casting doubts on the veracity of those vituperations.
The last but not the least albatross against Buhari is the matter of old age. I must confess that I belong in the category of the vociferous proponents of sacking most of our ancient leaders and replacing them with young and vibrant whizzkids.
I must sincerely thank the media and publicity committee of the People’s Democratic Party for finding my past comments and stance on Buhari so important and worthy of sponsored countervailing advertorials in several newspapers and social media platforms. They were generous enough to put me in good company by attaching me to accomplished Nigerians such as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mallam Nasir El Rufai. On a serious note, it was such a great honour seeing all manner of caricatures about me including the one stuffing my brains with noodles.
The truth is that I, like many other Nigerians, was a veritable victim of the almost unprecedented propaganda against Buhari. In my purview, the definition of propaganda is not about telling lies but an attempt to magnify non-fiction until it becomes what the famous author Kole Omotoso called “faction”, when you mix facts with fiction. The demonization of Buhari was therefore a fait accompli emanating from the many years of ferocious regurgitation of his supposed misdemeanours. But, still, I would never have imagined that a day would come when I, and so many former antagonists of Buhari, would not only change my mind about this walking firebrand but actually plunge myself fully into his presidential campaign while not being a member of his political party. Strange are the ways of God indeed.

In my nearly 55 years on earth, this is the second time I would witness a complete transfiguration of a Nigerian from being most hated to most loved. My first recollection was in 1988 as I searched frantically for a job. My dream then had been to get a teaching appointment after concluding a Master’s degree in Literature-in-English at the great Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. I was already contributing articles on the opinion pages of The Guardian which was edited by Odia Ofeimun and The Sunday Tribune, edited by Folu Olamiti. I was then subsequently invited by my friend, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, a prodigiously gifted journalist, to try my luck in Lagos. He tried to get me a job at the African Guardian, edited by Nduka Irabor, but wasn’t successful.
Onukaba then suggested that I should try the African Concord magazine, owned by Chief Moshood Abiola and edited by Lewis Obi but I was most reluctant. Just imagine that though I was desperately in need of a job, but I was not very keen about working in the Concord Group. You, like me, will laugh at my reasons now. I was discouraged by so many things I had read or heard about the fabulously wealthy ‘Money Kudi Owo’ Abiola, who was supposed to have been the biggest thief in Africa, courtesy of Fela’s album, ITT, International Thief Thief. That song had done incalculable damage to Chief Abiola as many self-righteous people, including myself, completely tuned off the man.
I remember very vividly how there was a war of words between the Awoists (who believed the support of Chief Abiola, a Yoruba, for the National Party of Nigeria was partly responsioble for robbing Chief Obafemi Awolowo of victory against Alhaji Shehu Shagari who won the Presidential election in 1979) and the Abiola supporters who felt there was nothing wrong in Yorubas belonging to opposing parties. The Nigerian Tribune had fiery writers led by Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, Ebenezer Babatope (aka Ebino Topsy) while The Concord Group assembled some of Nigeria’s finest journalists including Doyin Abiola, Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu, Yakubu Muhammed, Duro Onabule, Sina Adedipe and so many others. The columnists of both rival papers tackled themselves endless and joined issues on various national and personal matters. Of particular interest to me was a columnist popularly known as Abiodun Aloba (also known as Ebenezer Williams) who wrote so brilliantly that I asked God for his kind of diction.

In the middle of all this confusion, I would have preferred to work in the less controversial and highly cerebral environment of The Guardian but here I was being asked to try my luck at the African Concord. I had imagined all sorts about having to work in a religious conclave, all the restrictions, prejudices, and so on, but the real fear of hunger was the beginning of wisdom for me. I approached Mr Lewis Obi as suggested by Onukaba who introduced us and was shocked that I got a job on the spot. I had to plead with him to let me resume in another two weeks as I needed to return to Ile-Ife for proper preparation for this journey of a lifetime. The rest is history!
The meat of this story is that I resumed work on May 2, 1988, about fourteen days to my 28th birthday. But contrary to my mortal fears, The Concord Group was one of the most relaxed and pleasant companies I would ever work. It was by far the biggest media conglomerate in Nigeria. Chief Abiola rarely came around but he breezed in every now and then and everyone felt the tremor of his presence as well as the aftershocks after he’s been long gone. The Concord titles did not discriminate against any tribe or religion. I won’t be surprised if most of us were Christians. The most senior employees paraded a galaxy of more Christians than Moslems. We had a bush Canteen within the premises where we were allowed to eat or drink even alcohol as journalists love to do. Our Chairman avoided the News Room as much as possible because he was certain to be welcomed by some whiff of cigarette smoke.
Based on the much vaunted alleged prejudices of the owner, Chief MKO Abiola, I tried very hard to find out any shade of religious intolerance but never found one. He was not a saint but he towered above many of his peers. His love for the poor marked him apart from others. He lived for the needy and touched too many lives. He had attended a Christian school, Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, and could recite Biblical passages by rote. He attended church services when required to do so and even sang Christian hymns from memory at my wedding in 1992. It was a great lesson for me that we can all misconstrue many things based on rumours and gossip without seeking to ascertain the factual reality.

Chief Abiola worked assiduously at turning around the wrong impressions about him. Not everyone ever gets that lucky. It takes a lot to change human misperceptions. Many are often too rigid and too set in their ways. As Abiola himself used to say, the deaf always repeats the last songs he heard before he lost his hearing. It was one of those miraculous occurrences that Abiola was eventually able to endear himself to Nigerians from all works of lives. The secret of his larger-than-life image was quite simple. He never disconnected himself totally from the poor even as he wined and dined with the rich and famous. It is a lesson I hold very dear. Abiola was ready to fight the cause of the common man despite belonging to the oppressor class himself. The ability to relate to both with equal competence was uncommon. The truth is he never forgot his humble beginnings and made sure that this reflected in the way he related with all manner of people.
I wasn’t surprised when he returned from his self-imposed political sabbatical and jumped into the fray in 1993. He had bided his time and knew when to make the right move. Ordinary Nigerians responded in kind and in sincere appreciation of his genuinely generous gestures. Even the elites who initially viewed him with suspicion and likely disdain finally embraced him warts and all as the most unlikely man became so radicalised that he became a symbol of our struggle for democracy and good governance. Ironically, Fela’s Brother, Beekololari Ransome-Kuti joined in that epic battle, and likewise many who were never fans of Abiola.
As I watch events unfold around Major General Buhari today, I just can’t help but draw some comparison and highlight the similarities between the People’s General and Abiola, the only difference being that Buhari cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called a wealthy man. Both men had powerful enemies. They were assumed to be religious bigots. Although, Abiola was a Yoruba man it was felt that he was too partial to the North as is the wrong perception of General Buhari’s parochial feelings for his home region. They derived their power from the poor. Their passion for Nigeria could never be in doubt. Abiola was rejected by the political class resoundingly just like Buhari has not been able to win the presidential election a record third time. However, like Abiola, Buhari seems to have gotten his groove finally and disabused the Nigerian public of these erroneous views and opinions.

This deal was finally saved and delivered at The Chatham House, London on February 26, 2015. At a public lecture which he delivered at that world renowned venue, Buhari mesmerised the world with his presence, carriage, and childlike innocence. He did not pretend to be who he wasn’t. It was such a glorious moment as he introduced himself as a former dictator turned reformed democrat. He spoke calmly and firmly in front of a distinguished audience. He answered the questions fired at him with candour, sincerity and common-sense. Many were shocked to see a Buhari they thought they knew but didn’t know. Standing before the world was a man whose image was falsely that of a Muslim fundamentalist, stark illiterate, aged and tired soldier, wicked and miserable soul, hypnotising everyone with his carefully chosen but intelligent words coupled with great wit and humour. This was a truly transfigured Buhari, who certainly has a date with history and it is certainly only a matter of time before he gets his well-deserved apotheosis.

Well done kwankasiyya

Another BIG plot against GMB and Nigerians. Please read and share.
The story below reached us this morning (23/02/2015). It came from one of our reliable sources in Nigeria. It is one of the most disturbing stories that we have yet received. Read it and make your own judgement!

“I have it on a strong ground that there is a plan to capture a Shekau before the week to elections. And the captured Shekau who is currently undergoing training on what to say and do will mention Buhari as one of their core sponsors. The target according to the source is to discourage Southern voters and the Northern Christians (from liking Buhari). The confession is alleged to be so perfectly planned that Buhari may even be arrested and even those who love him may think twice (about his sincerity). The sum of 4.5 billion Naira is purportedly budgeted. The purpose of this budget I am told is for bribing some Northern clerics so when the time comes, they will pacify their followers (to reject Buhari as he is BoKo Haram sponsor). There will purportedly be audio of phone calls (between Buhari and the Boko Haram leaders). Buhari will not be able to sue the government since it will be an arranged confession of a captured terrorist. Now, I am not saying this (leak) is true. But knowing how desperate these PDP people are, they can do just anything to get Buhari out of the way. Honestly, I am deeply, deeply, deeply, worried. In fact, I am troubled. Kindly share this and let the world know about this evil machination of the PDP before it is too late. Kindly do it. The person who gave me this information is an Intelligence officer with the Army. He looks worried too.”

May God save Nigeria and Nigerians. Amen.

Dr. Idris Ahmed.

@op yes it is possible infact it happened to me.i wrongfully transferred 20000k into someone acct in gtb.i complained to my bank for retrieval nd still waiting for response.

I prefer giving out my 17 yr old daughter's hand in marriage than to allow her have sex outside marriage.most girls with unwanted pregnancies this days are under 18

Okupe when did u start representing the views of Nigerians.better help ur oga @ the top by telling him the truth

So tinibu is no longer a gambari slave?

PDP is a confused party.better stop the propaganda and sell your clueless one to nigerians.for now by vote is for GMB until PDP get sense

When did olisa metuh became the spokesman of patriotic Nigerians

CFCfan:

How old is he?

He's 39

If umar Nasko wins he will be the youngest aspirant

Well said sir

Malam Yusuf Usman is a Nigerian citizen and a hotel worker in the capital city of Jigawa State, Dutse. He is 37 years of age and earns about N20,000 per month. But this man wowed hundreds of thousands of his compatriots by returning an iPad and N17m he had encountered.

Malam Yusuf Usman is a Nigerian citizen and a hotel worker in the capital city of Jigawa State, Dutse. He is 37 years of age and earns about N20,000 per month. But this man wowed hundreds of thousands of his compatriots by returning an iPad and N17m he had encountered.

Hotel-Worker-Malam-Yusuf-Usman-Jigawa

Hotel worker Malam-Yusuf-Usman is in newspapers. Photo: PulseNG

WeeklyTrust found the man who has chosen the pass of hard work and honesty and resisted the temptation.

A couple of weeks ago Usman came across belongings forgotten by one of the guests. An iPad, foreign currency and Naira notes totalling about N17m were discovered. The man explained his move by the fact that he was brought up not to covet other people’s property.

“I have been with Three-Star Hotel, Dutse, Jigawa State, for the past 15 years and I am currently their Reception Manager. What actually happened was that on that fateful day that I found the money, I was on my way from reception to see one of the housekeepers. I passed through the hotel garden where some of our guests usually relax.

“As I was going, I saw an iPad lying close to one of the flowers in the garden and there was nobody there. So I went and took the iPad so that I could take it to the reception and wait for the owner who may come for it later. When I looked at it closely, I saw some foreign currency and some wad of naira notes in the iPad jacket. I quickly took it to the management and I was asked to keep the money and the iPad in my safe at the reception. I did not count the money myself,” the man recounted.

Usman received a call three days later. A staff of Jigawa College of Health Technology, Jahun, told the receptionist that one of the former guests was looking for his iPad containing some money. However, the person could not remember whether it was in the hotel he had lost his belongings or not.

The reception manager immediately confirmed that it was in the hotel and he had found it.

Usman further said that the people from Jahun were extremely happy upon hearing that and when they came to pick up the money.

“They thanked me and the management of the hotel. The Jigawa College of Health Technology wrote a commendation letter to me. It was there they stated that the money was over $100,000 because the jacket also had local currency in it,” the man noted.

Governor Sule Lamido was informed about the situation and praised the noble deed of the hotel worker. The management of the hotel issued a commendation letter to Usman.

“As you can see I am not financially comfortable but that is not the point. What is not yours is not yours. There are three reasons why I will never take somebody’s property.

“One, stealing is against the teaching of Islam and I was strictly brought up according to Islamic teaching.

“Secondly, my father has always warned me never to tamper with what is not mine because it can bring destruction in my life and thirdly, it is the tradition of our hotel not to hide whatever item we found,” the reception manager explained.

He noted that there is a special store at the hotel for forgotten items, with some of the belongings being there for 10 years.

“I don’t see what I did as a big deal. I am just doing my duty.

“I don’t believe that running away with somebody’s money will make me wealthy. Wealth belongs to Allah and if Allah destined me to be wealthy it will come to pass.

“My wife is so proud of me that her respect for me has doubled,” the man of honour said.

Usman further advised the youths to remain honest and hard-working. He added that everything in life is not about money and that “integrity, good name and honesty are qualities that will bring their own reward at the right time.”

Kano State Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso on Sunday said he can’t be impeached because he is too big for the impeachment tricks of President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The governor told Sahara Reporters in an interview that the President Jonathan– led administration had tried to persuade his state legislature to impeach him but failed following the support of the people of Kano.


“They have been trying and that you are aware of. They came here and collected all the principal officers and other members of the state House of Assembly; not because they stole anything, but because they didn’t want us to pass the budget. The EFCC came dead in the night and started collecting them like criminals, they took them to Abuja; and we followed them, there was just no question, nothing. At the end of the day, I don’t know what happened, they granted us bail and the case is still in court,” he said. “It is not that they stole money. I have never seen this kind of thing anywhere, where authorities come to the state, to collect people in the night; I am talking about elected state legislators”.

Kwankwaso went further to reveal that the PDP recently brought one ‘hawk’ from Kebbi State, to settle in Kano to ferment trouble immediately after he (Kwankwaso) defected to APC, adding that several meetings were held in the house of the hawk. He said PDP was already celebrating that it has gotten the state house of assembly Speaker and majority of the APC executive, making them think that the legislature will follow next.

“By the time I called them, we had meeting on a Friday which ran into Saturday. And by Sunday, they came from Abuja and put them in the aircraft but to their surprise by Monday morning, I told them to go and declare that instead of 31 members for APC, we were now having 34! So, they have been trying, but we are politicians here and we have been in the game” he said.

The governor stated that politics should not be seen as enmity or something that you have to destroy something for.


“The very forces that they used in Ekiti, they used in Adamawa, which they are now using in Nasarawa, I am sure they want to try it again in Osun. These are the forces that they should have been using in the North-eastern states. On Ekiti election day, the whole state was taken over and dominated. I don’t think Ekiti is as big as Sambisa Forest, you go and dominate there, why are you dominating an innocent state? And what they don’t know is that the party taking seats by force from other states does not give them automatic success in 2015” he said