The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned that those who are bent on destroying its Presidential Candidate, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on the basis of his certificates may end up destroying the country's military.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its National Publicity Sec. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party warned that the PDP and the Jonathan Administration are playing a dangerous game by trying to compromise the military in order to satisfy selfish political objectives, and urged the military, as a symbol of national unity, to beware of those who may be seeking to use it to achieve selfish and divise ends.
It
said the statement credited to the Nigerian Army Director, Army Public
Relations, Brig-Gen. Olajide Olaleye, at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday,
that the Army is not in possession of Gen. Buhari's certificates, is in
direct conflict with what he said on Jan. 4th 2015 on the same issue.
''In
an interview with the Punch on Jan. 4th 2015, Brig.-Gen. Olaleye said:
'Every serving and retired Army officer has at least a copy of his
certficates and credentials kept in the Nigerian Army while that same
serving and retired officer has copies of those same certificates and
credentials'.
''Is Brig.-Gen.
Olaleye now saying that he did not make that statement? If he did, what
has happened between then and now to make him to recant? It will be
interesting to know what has transpired between then and now,'' APC
said.
But more worrisome, the
party said, is the statement credited to Brig.-Gen. Olaleye that there
was no evidence that the certificates of all those who joined the army
in the early 1960s were verified by the selection board.
''Is
he now saying that all those who were commissioned into the officer
cadres in the 1960s did not have their certificates verified? Does this
not confirm what we said that in trying to destroy Gen. Buhari, the PDP
and the Jonathan Administration will end up destroying the army as an
institution? Or is it only Gen. Buhari that was commissioned into the
army in the 1960s,'' it said.
The
party also quoted Gen. Buhari as saying in an affidavit on 24/11/2014
that ''All my academic qualifications documents as filled in my
presidential form, President APC/001/2015 are currently with the
Secretary Military Board as at the time of this affidavit.''
''Those
who are behind the latest controversy should now tell Nigerians what
happened to Gen. Buhari's certificates between the time of his affidavit
and now,'' it said.
APC said in
any case, even if the Army now says it does not have the certificates
of Gen. Buhari, he is still very qualified to run for the country's
highest office, as stipulated by the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
The party
quoted Section 131 (d) of the Constitution: ''A person shall be
qualified for election to the office of President if he has been
educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent''
APC
said the meaning and interpretation of ''School Certificate level or
its equivalent can be found in the Constitution under part IV, Section
318. In that Section, a ''School Certificate or ot equivalent'' is
defined quite succinctly thus:
(a) A Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, 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.
The
party said since Brig.-Gen. Olaleye has now confirmed that Gen. Buhari
indeed applied to join the Army from form six, that the principal of the
school he attended even attested to his suitability, and that the form
he filled contained his Secondary School Certificate results, there is
no scintilla of doubt about his qualification to run for president as
stipulated by the Constitution.
''However,
we know that the PDP and the Jonathan Administration have constituted
themselves into a court of law and will like nothing more than the
disqualification of our candidate so they will face no challenge in next
month's election. This is wishful thinking,'' it said.
APC
said the PDP and the Jonathan Administration should expend their energy
on how to revive their floundering campaign instead of seeking the
disqualification of its (APC) candidate.
On
the contradictions in the statements credited to the Army spokesman,
the party said: ''It is true that our once globally-respected military
has now been made comatose by the PDP-led Federal Government, but we
believe things have not reached the level where the same military will
be engaging in actions that amount to self destruction, just to satisfy
some political interests.
''We
believe things have not reached a level where we, as a nation, will now
be giving the impression that a man who rose to become a Major-General
in the Nigerian Army does not have requisite qualifications?
''What
really is happening in our country if some politicians have now decided
to engage in an action that will amount to dragging the military into
politics, dividing an institution that is a symbol of national unity,
trivializing the service of those who fought to keep Nigeria one and
ridiculing the same country it is supposed to be ruling?
''We
have said it before and will like to repeat: Enough is enough about
this distraction orchestrated by the PDP and the Jonathan Administration
whose electioneering campaign for next month's polls has suffered a
train wreck,'' the party said
