Certificate Forgery: Presidency Urges Buhari To Clear His Name

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, has been advised by the Presidency to clear his name from the allegations of forgery in his secondary school credentials.

According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, Buhari "must stop taking Nigerians for granted and show some leadership qualities by taking personal responsibility for clearing his name of charges of forgery and lying on oath."

The President's aide said that it was inconceivable that allegations as weighty as forgery and perjury would be made against the person of a retired General and a former Head of State without him deeming it necessary to conclusively debunk such allegations but would rather pass the buck to other persons or organisations.

Okupe said, "We consider this as an unstatesmanlike assault on the intelligence of Nigerians and it represents the greatest challenge between Gen Buhari and the office he seeks to occupy.

"It will be recalled that Buhari has in the last few weeks domiciled the custody of his secondary school certificate in three different quarters namely the Military Board, his former secondary school and now the Independent National Electoral Commission.

"Unfortunately for the APC candidate, the examinations body, WAEC, which has the final say on this issue, has also recently declared that it does NOT have any records of Buhari’s secondary school certificate just as the military authorities did.

"Nigerians will also recall that despite Gen. Buhari’s sordid past and shoddy performance while in government as military Head of State and Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, the only two factors which his propagandists have hinged his candidacy on are his supposed incorruptibility and integrity.”