Metropolitan Police asked to investigate authenticity of Buhari's Cambridge certificate

NIGERIAN lawyer Kalu Agu has written to the Metropolitan Police in London asking them to investigate the authenticity of the recent Cambridge school leaving certificate submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Under the provisions of Nigeria's constitution, presidential aspirants have to submit a copy of their O'Level school leaving certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec). During the ongoing election tribunal hearings, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has questioned the authenticity of a certificate submitted by President Buhari.

During hearings, Abba Kyari, President Buhari’s chief of staff, had told the election tribunal that he obtained the president’s assessment documents from Cambridge University. However, legal practitioner Mr Agu has questioned the validity of the document said to have been obtained from the Cambridge Assessment International Education.

He has subsequently sent petitions to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the London Metropolitan Police Service, asking them to validate the document. In his petition, he asked how Mr Kyari was able to obtain a certificate for a third party.

Mr Agu said: “Where did Mr Abba Kyari get the certificate which he enclosed alongside his application form for the issuance of the said certifying statement, which he claimed he procured from Cambridge Assessment International Education. Whether Mr Abba Kyari as an individual can apply for the said certifying statement not being an academic institution or an employer of the candidate.

“Whether the said certifying statement can be delivered to Mr Abba Kyari by hand as he claimed he signed and personally collected same by hand in the UK. Evidence of the said application and of the candidate’s authorisation to the Cambridge Assessment International Education for the release of the said certifying statement to Mr Abba Kyari.”

He added that in the circumstance that the certifying statement is found to be forged, it will be of great service to both Nigeria and the United Kingdom that Mr Kyari is arrested and arraigned in a court of competent jurisdiction for forgery. In a 43-page petition, Alhaji Abubakar and the PDP claimed to have established the fact that President Buhari does not possess the requisite academic qualification for the position of the president of Nigeria.

According to the petitioners, even President Buhari’s own witnesses under cross examination admitted to the fact that he does not possess a school certificate, being the basic requirements for contesting for the office of the president. They also asked why it was easier for President Buhari to go all the way to Cambridge in the United Kingdom to obtain a bogus documents that his own witnesses said was not a certificate, instead of just driving down the street in Abuja to the Nigerian Army headquarters or placing a phone call to the secretary of the military board.