Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) has challenged the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to dwell on the myriads of problems besetting the country rather than making an issue over his school certificate.
According to Vanguard, Buhari made the challenge in a press briefing yesterday, January 21,2015, where he asked the PDP to base its campaign on issues like unemployment, insecurity and corruption bedeviling the country rather than dwell on petty issues of little relevance.
“The issues are the scandalous level of unemployment of millions 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 for anything other than the retention of power at all costs.”
Buhari explained that he would have dismissed the certificates issue as sheer mischief but for the concern expressed by many of his supporters and other well-meaning Nigerians.
Buhari said: “I had assumed all along that all my records were in the custody of the Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army. Much to my surprise, we are now told that although a record of the result is available, there are no copies of the certificates in my personal file.
“This is why I formally requested my old school, the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina, (now Government College, Katsina) to make available the school’s copy of the result of the Cambridge/West African School Certificate. This will be made available to the press the moment it is available’’.
The former head of state reiterated that there were more pressing issues begging for attention than his certificate.
“The issues are the scandalous level of unemployment of millions 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 for anything other than the retention of power at all costs.”
It would be recalled that Buhari addressed a press conference on January 21, 2015, Wednesday after the military denied been in possession of his academic certificates.
The controversy lead to the Government College, formerly Provincial Secondary School, Katsina, releasing the secondary school certificate examination results of the APC presidential candidate.
