APC presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari responds to certificate controversy

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next month’s presidential election, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, has cleared the air on the controversy surrounding his primary and secondary school qualification.

Speaking to journalists at the Africa House, beside the Kano State Government House in the State capital, the Katsina-born politician named late Gen Shehu Musa Yar’adua and a former President of the Court of Appeal, Mr Umar Abdullahi, as his classmates.

He, however, failed to tender his certificate but noted that the school he attended, the Provincial Secondary School, now known as Government College, Katsina, will make available a copy of the Cambridge West African School Certificate, which would be made available to the press.

General Buhari said he wrote the examination with number 8200002 in the Second Division.

He, however, said: “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 our young people, the state of insecurity, the pervasive official corruption which has impoverished our people and the lack of concern of the government of anything other than the retention of power at all costs”.

The Nigerian military had yesterday denied being in possession of the WASC certificate of the retired army officer, who rose to the rank of Major General before becoming Nigeria’s military ruler after the coup plot on Mr Shehu Shagari’s regime in 1983.

Credit: Channels