By Olusegun Lawrence The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen Muhammadu Buhari must as a matter of urgency clear himself of allegations of perjury, forgery and corruption hanging on his neck, the Presidency has said.
In a statement on Saturday, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, posited that the former Head of State has failed integrity test and must therefore clear his name.
According to him, Buhari was taking Nigerians for granted by not speaking up on the allegations but preferred to pass the bulk.
Okupe said since the West African Examination Council, WAEC, and the Nigerian Military have denied being in possession of Buhari’s certificate, he has to tell Nigerians to truth.
The SSA Public Affairs’ statement read in part: “The Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, rtd. General Muhammadu 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.
“It is inconceivable that allegations as weighty as forgery and perjury will 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.
“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.”
Okupe also noted that Buhari must defend the allegation of corruption leveled against him when he was the Head at the Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF.
He stated further, “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.
“While the report of the Haroun Adamu committee on the mismanagement of a sum of 25 billion Naira at the PTF has completely wiped off the vaunted incorruptibility, the Generals integrity credential is being threatened by this odious certificate issue.
“It has therefore become imperative for him to quickly put an end to this unnecessary and inexplicable certificate controversies; otherwise the only remaining leg on which he is supposedly standing may be fatally destroyed.
“A man cannot carry an undischarged baggage of alleged certificate forgery and willfully perjury and still shout change at political rallies.
“It does not show any potential of responsible leadership on the part of those who want to lead Africa’s most populous Nation to shun accountability on their personal credential. This tends to suggest that the APC change slogan is cosmetic, puerile and deceitful.
“Buhari and the APC who mouth corruption everywhere should clear the air on this matter or forever bury their heads in shame.
“For the avoidance of doubt, concerning the 2015 elections, Nigerians will not elect into its highest office a man who cannot satisfy the minutest test of honesty and integrity in his academic credential”.
