Presidential candidate of the All
Progressives Congress (APC),
Muhammadu Buhari, has finally broken
his silence on the school certificate issue.
Buhari, in an address released
to the
press on Wednesday, January 21,
categorically stated that he attended
Provincial Secondary School, Katsina,
where he obtained a Cambridge/West
African School Certificate.
The erstwhile Head of State, said he has
requested for a copy of the result from
his old school, and once it is available, he
would present it to the world.
Buhari said: “I only consented to address
you this morning because of the genuine
concern expressed by many supporters
and other well-meaning Nigerians that the
issue be addressed. Otherwise, I would
have dismissed it for what it is; ‘sheer
mischief’, and would not have considered
it an issue worth the nation’s while.”
“I had assumed all along that all my
records were in the custody of the
Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army.
Much to my surprise, we are now told
that although a record of the result is
available, there are no copies of the
certificates in my personal file. This is why
I formally requested my old school the
Provincial Secondary School, Katsina
[which is now known as Government
College, Katsina] to make available the
school’s copy of the result of the
Cambridge/West African School
Certificate. This will be made available to
the press the moment this is available.”
“However, before we obtain that, let me
say for the record that I attended
Provincial Secondary School, Katsina. I
graduated in 1961 with many prominent
Nigerians, including General Shehu
Yar’Adua, former chief of staff at the
Supreme Headquarters, and Justice
Umaru Abdullahi, a former President of
the Court of Appeal. We sat for the
University of Cambridge/WASC
Examination together in 1961, the year we
graduated. My examination number was
8280002, and I passed the examination in
the Second Division,” the statement
added.
Furthermore, Buhari bemoaned the fact
that a certificate “obtained 53 years ago”
has become the major talking point in a
political campaign, that should ordinarily
be centered on pertinent issues.
He said: “And although the ruling party
may want to wish this away, the issue in
this campaign cannot be my certificate
which I obtained 53 years ago. The issues
are the scandalous level of
unemployment of millions of our young
people, the state of insecurity, the
pervasive official corruption which has
impoverished our people and the lack of
concern of the government for anything
other than the retention of power at all
costs.
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