President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday tendered his West African Examination School Certificate (WAEC), before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja.
Buhari tendered the certificate, alongside a group photograph he took with his classmates at Provisional Secondary School Katsina State, in 1961, through his team of lawyers led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN.
He is praying the tribunal to dismiss the petition the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, filed to challenge his declaration as winner of the February 23 presidential election.
The petitioners had among other things, maintained that he does not possess the requisite educational qualifications.
The tribunal had on Monday, directed Buhari to open his defence to the petition. At the resumed proceeding, Olanipekun said his client would tender two schedules of documents from the Bar.
The first set of documents which he said was served on all the parties, contained 16 Certified True Copies of some Newspaper publications and a document titled APC Roadmap To A New Nigeria.
Shortly after the Justice Mohammed Garba-led five-member panel tribunal admitted the first documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibits R1-18, Olanipekun tendered the certificate.
Specifically, the second batch of eight documents, comprised of Cambridge Assessment International Certified Statement Of West African School Certificate For President Buhari who Olanipekun said passed the exam in second grade in 1961.
Others were the collection receipt for the result, CTC of confidential result sheet of University of Cambridge West African School Certificate, 1961, for Provincial Secondary School Katsina which showed Buhari with his classmates. Group Photographs of Form 6 students of his set in school, as well as printout of online news publication of January 22, 2015, with respect to the set.
Olanipekun also tendered Certificate of compliance for the documents as prescribed in section 24 of Evidence Act, and a letter of commendation from a Commandant of the US Army to General Akin Ade in June 13, 1980, concerning President Buhari.
Meanwhile, Atiku’s lawyer, Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, challenged admissibility of the documents. Whereas he described the first set of documents as “very strange”, Uzoukwu said he would subsequently adduce reasons why the Buhari’s certificate which he said was never pleaded nor listed by the 2nd Respondent, lacked probative value.
Meanwhile, Buhari has called his first witness, a retired Major General, Paul Tarfa, who said they were listed in the Nigerian Army the same time on April 16, 1962, as his first witness.
Vanguard
