www.nairaland.com/attachments/2016739_buharicertificate1_jpegb21076f2651f15b3671faf1cbb022dda
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of covering up candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next month’s presidential election, General Muhammadu Buhari, over the controversy surrounding his certificate.

However, the APC Presidential Campaign Council immediately berated the PDP over the statement, advising it to face the current trouble in Baga, Borno State, rather than commenting on Buhari’s certificate saga.

The ruling PDP, at a press conference held in Abuja on Saturday, also accused the electoral umpire of acts capable of undermining current democratic experience.

“It has been brought to our attention that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), either by error of omission or commission, may be engaged in acts that do not support the advancement of democracy, the rule of law and the strict adherence to the letters and the spirit of electoral laws in Nigeria.

“His (Buhari’s) inability to present even the minimum requirement of just a leaving school certificate questions his moral and other credentials for pursuing the position of the president of Nigeria. The current emerging shocking disclosures bring to the fore how and what qualifications were used to recruit him into the military without a minimum school leaving certificate, where he rose to the rank of a General and even became the head of state through a military coup that truncated a democratically-elected government in 1983,” PDP said.

While putting the INEC on the spot, the ruling party noted that it had become known that General Buhari did not present any certificate, even for the 2011 presidential election.

“The question must be asked; is Buhari or any other citizen qualified to contest election into the office of the president without meeting the minimum constitutional requirement? The Nigerian constitution at Section 131 unequivocally states that: ‘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.’

“It is to be noted that section 131 (d) is a specific directional order for all candidates to show proof of education up to a minimum standard not below school certificate or its equivalent.

“But from what INEC has published, Buhari has not submitted any personal particular of minimum school leaving certificate for the 2015 election and shockingly, from INEC documents displayed in all constituencies, he also did not submit anything in 2011 and never referred the umpire then to the secretary of the Military Board as well as previous elections he contested as evidenced in all available INEC records until this current discovery.

“If the constitution did not require proof, it would not specify a minimum. To strengthen this claim, the extant Electoral Act directs that such proof must be sworn to by each candidate at a court.

“In Section 31 (2) to (5), it says: ‘The list of information submitted by each candidate shall be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidate at the Federal High Court, High Court of a state or the FCT, indicating that he has fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into that office.’

“It should be noted that for elections to the office of the president and for the purpose of display of particulars of candidates for all presidential elections, the entire country is taken as one constituency i.e. the 774 local government areas of the 36 states, including the FCT where these particulars have been displayed.

“For Nigerians that have perused the affidavit of nomination as submitted by General Buhari, as published in all INEC offices, as well as the copies of his similar INEC documentations for 2011, it clearly reveals that a man who claims to be of integrity has not been true to Nigerians.

“It can be seen that as indicated in Section 31 (6), there is reasonable grounds to believe that a false deponent was declared in the affidavit where it indicates that all documents relating to the personal particulars of General Buhari are with the secretary of the Military Board.

PDP went ahead to query the electoral body on why it appeared to have placed Buhari above the law of the land.

It said: “The question to ask INEC is: Is Buhari above the law of the land or should we suspend or amend the law to accommodate him?

“It is common knowledge that Military Board, like any other, does not keep or retain original copies of personal particulars of individuals, such as birth certificates, passports and academic credentials, especially retired personnel of over three decades.

“It must be stated that INEC erred in law by publishing the name of a candidate without receiving the personal particulars of the candidate within seven days of receiving his nomination forms as indicated in section 31 (3).

“This is, indeed, a tragedy illustrating what Nigeria has become; that an individual is so powerful that the law has to be ignored to accommodate him. Certainly, INEC-printed nomination forms or High Court affidavits are in no way or by any stretch of definition, the same as personal particulars, such as school leaving certificate.”

JECBOSS:
Buhari, Show us your certificates!

tsleazy:
Baba Buhari show us ur kindergarten certificate

JECBOSS:
Buhari, Show us your certificates!

tsleazy:
Baba Buhari show us ur kindergarten certificate

Princess2be:

Anyone can serve! Just any!

barcanista:
PDP shoulld stop whinning. They are acting like opposition(apc)......hahahahaa.
Kai Buhari

tsleazy:
at least you know how the opposition (Apc) act....they "whine" a lot. Hehehehhehehehe...#no offense intended

barcanista:
PDP shoulld stop whinning. They are acting like opposition..hahahahaa. If they have any objection, they should go to Inec and file petition or go to court. Their whining won't help their case! However, I have to assure them that cme FeBuhari, Nigerians will unnanimously return Muhammadu Buhari to Aso Rock and send Jonathan packing.
Sai Buhari

dridowu:
Anyone (PDP inclusibe) that want to see Buhari certificate should head to court to get an injunction
#FeBuhari14
#SaiBuhari

mikeansy:
PDP should go to court immediately to compel Buhari to show his certificate or bow out of the race if he has no certificate

It is astonishing, embarrassing and quite frankly pathetic that the APC the party of change are burying their head in the sand once again. It clearly shows that APC did not do any basic screening of its candidates before primaries!!!!

rozayx5:


PDP is wasting time on this issue. an injunction would send the terrorist to daura

lookmangiw:
I thought PDP said even if the flag bearer for the presidential election faces all the APC 5 aspirants, they would still win. So enough of this propaganda and let us go into the election straight.

mikeansy:


but the rules are the rules, they must be obeyed

Buhari that calls himself Mr Integrity may have been scamming Nigerians all along

This is why I don't trust people who call themselves messiah

Buhari must show us his 1st school leaving certificate