There are great reasons for concerns about Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari, and any doubtful credentials in his forms for the 2015 presidential election. In an affidavit, Buhari told the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that all his academic credentials were with the Military Board.
He had contested presidential elections in 2003, 2007, 2011. There were no issues around his credentials then. Why is 2015 different? The 2015 elections are being built on non-issues, Buhari cannot add to them with the manner he filled his form, though it is left for INEC to decide if the form is properly filled.
“I am the above-named person and deponent to this affidavit therein. All my academic qualifications documents as filled in my presidential form, President APC/001/2015, are currently with the Secretary, Military Board as of the time of presenting this affidavit. The affidavit is made in good faith and for record purpose,” Buhari deposed in the affidavit accompanying his submissions to INEC.
Unless stated elsewhere, Buhari should have declared the circumstances of the loss of his credentials, cover them with the affidavit, and make the reference to the Military Board as an addition. The impression the deposition created is that the Military Board was in possession of the certificates, a practice many considered alien or peculiar to Buhari.
“The original certificate of any officer or soldier is only needed at the point of entry into the service either as a cadet officer entering the Nigerian Defence Academy, or the recruitment officers when interviewing recruits to be sent to the depot for training. That is so, because they are needed to verify what were in the photocopies supplied by them or from the necessary examining bodies,” a military source said, in absolving the board of responsibilities for Buhari’s credentials.
Unnecessary as the controversy may seen, it is the responsibility of every candidate and each party to ensure that the credentials they present for the elections are complete and acceptable to the law. INEC would make the decisions on each case, aggrieved parties can go to court. After all, each candidate swore an affidavit to the effect that the information it is presenting to INEC is true. Where we think a candidate is running against the law, the courts would decide the matter.
There are many contentious matters about the future of our country, even in the next four years, under the care of those we choose next month. We think that the contenders for our votes should be on the streets engaging the people.
Outside name-calling and self-praise, none of the candidates is telling us how he would improve the lives of Nigerians in these harsh times.
