Former Petroleum Minister, Tam David-West, has challenged Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains, Femi Fani-Kayode, Wole Oladipo, and Akin Osuntokun, to a public debate over their utterances against All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
Fani-Kayode, spokesman for Goodluck Jonathan re-election campaign council, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disqualify Buhari for failing to make public his academic certificates.
Oladipo, PDP National Secretary, referred to Buhari as semi-illiterate. Osuntokun labelled him a demagogue.
‘Lazy’ talkers
But David-West said the three men are talking nonsense.
His words: “Fani-Kayode said Buhari has no certificate. That is just nonsense. Buhari went to military school. When he applied to join the army, in the whole of Katsina, only (Shehu) Yar’Adua and Buhari qualified.
“All these people that are saying these things about Buhari are all lazy. They don’t research, they just talk. From Katsina Secondary School, only two people qualified to attend Army College, Yar’Adua and Buhari, and both of them rose up to become Generals.
“Buhari later attended the American War College, which is one of the highest, the same war college attended by Collin Powell. Before you attend the war college, you must have finished high school, a very good high school or secondary school.”
What Constitution says
David-West reminded Fani-Kayode that the Constitution does not say that a candidate must possess a First Leaving School Certificate to contest for the presidency.
“In Nigeria, there is a law, the person must be a Nigerian citizen, he or she must be 40 years old and show evidence that he has read up to school certificate. Mark the emphasis, up to school certificate.
“Buhari’s certificates are with the army. I checked a few days ago from a very reliable person that the army has never said it does not have Buhari’s certificates. If he has no certificate, they would not have admitted him.”
David-West said Oladipo needs his professorial thesis re-examined for referring to Buhari as semi-illiterate.
Certificates and good leaders
He wondered if certificates make a good leader.
“Jimmy Carter of America has two PhDs. He has PhD in nuclear physics and PhD in chemistry. Didn’t Ronald Reagan, a Hollywood actor, defeat him?
“Jonathan has a PhD. Is he better than Tafawa Balewa? Zik (Nnamdi Azikiwe) had more degrees than Awolowo. Was Zik a better leader than (Obafemi) Awolowo?”
David-West also faulted the logic of Osuntokun who said Buhari is a religious demagogue who lacks the power of speech.
“That is stupid. You cannot be a demagogue without the power of speech to convince people. That is a contradiction.”
He also said the men were wrong for saying that Buhari is too old for the presidency.
“Buhari is very young to contest the election. He is just 72. The president of Liberia is older than Buhari. And Tunisia has just elected a president who is 88 years old, 16 years older than Buhari,; and that person defeated a 68-year-old.
“Zik was 75 years when he contested for the president of Nigeria in 1979. Awolowo was 70 years old when he contested for the presidency in 1979. Robert Mugabe is 90 years old and going to be in office in the next six years.
“They (the PDP chieftains) are very, very lazy. They just talk. They are empty gas no content.”
David-West promised to silence them with facts and figures if they accept his invitation for a public debate
