[Mhiz Rebecca]

The Presidency has said only lazy people are the ones
discussing the non-submission certificate saga of President
Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr Buhari who is seeking a second term in office has again
failed to submit his academic credentials to the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC). It is stipulated that
candidates for elective positions must submit their credentials
to the electoral body.
For Buhari, a retired Major General of the Nigerian Army, his
certificates are with the military. He made the claims in an
affidavit he attached to his presidential form at the time. The
military came out to debunk the claim.
The issue first came to national discuss in 2014 when it was
made know to the public that the then candidate of the All
Progressive Congress (APC) had no educational qualification to
back up documents he submitted to INEC.
Although Buhari, who now governs the country, had severally
contested election to the same position and failed, the issue of
his educational qualifications had not been known until 2014
when it came to the knowledge of the public.
NGPOLITICS recalled some Nigerians at the time said the
revelation was the handiwork of the then ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) to suppress the growing influence of
Buhari.
Submitting his 2019 presidential form, the president restated
his earlier claim, an action that has generated reactions from
Nigerians with some of them saying the president was being
economical with the truth on the whereabout of his academic
credentials.
For the PDP, Buhari should present his academic credentials
to INEC or apologize to Nigerians.
Reacting to the development, the Presidency said those
discussing the issue have nothing to do as the subject matter
had long been laid to rest.
“The certificate saga is a dead issue, only idle people will
consider it,” TheNation Newspaper quoted Femi Adesina, the
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, as
saying on Saturday.
“It is something that had been laid to rest before the 2015
general elections.
“Those raising the issue (PDP and others) are idle and they
have run out of ideas. They see defeat staring them in the face
and they are desperate to cling to any straw. This issue was
resolved before the 2015 election.
“It is a matter of fact that when President Buhari and others
joined the military, they took their original certificates from
them. The military knew where they kept the original
certificates of the president.
“In fact, a former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Alani
Akinrinade, corroborated that the military collected the
original certificates of all its officers. The PDP believes it is
going to lose the elections, and they will lose, and it is raising
dust over a dead issue.
“The military already said they lost the certificates. But does
it mean that it did not exist that the president went to school,
sat for examinations and passed; attended military courses and
War College?
“It does not change the fact that the president rose through
the ranks to become a Major-General in the Nigerian Army
and a Military Head of State.
“Didn’t those opposed to President Buhari go to court over his
certificate and lost before? They will still lose this time
around. It is a dead issue,” Mr Adesina said.
Source:- NGpolitics