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Samson Olekanma
The 2019 presidential election in Nigeria has come and gone, yet the issues it generated have refused to go away. Following the conclusion of the election and the subsequent announcement of results by INEC which declared President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headed to the election tribunal to challenge the victory of the incumbent. There is absolutely nothing wrong for a candidate who has lost an election to head to the tribunal to seek redress. That is a legitimate line of action as provided by the law. The incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari followed the same line of action on the occasions he lost the presidential elections in the past.
Among other things, the PDP candidate contested that the incumbent did not possess the requisite academic qualifications and in fact, did not attach same while filling the INEC presidential nomination forms. Therefore, Atiku Abubakar prayed the court to nullify the election and declare him winner because the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate was not qualified to contest the election in the first place.
In his ruling, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, leader of the five-member panel of justices declared that “this petition is hereby dismissed in its entirety”. Furthermore, Mr. Garba ruled that “Mr Buhari is not only qualified, he is eminently qualified to contest the election”.
The five-member tribunal made up of honourable judges also ruled that the discrepancy in Buhari’s name on the school certificates presented by the petitioner is irrelevant in the determination of the case. “Whether it’s Muhammadu with a ‘U’ or Mohammed Buhari with an ‘O’, they all refer to and identify the second respondent”, declared the tribunal. The court held that the evidence tendered regarding Buhari’s qualifications were not to be relied upon, since the PDP did not issue or make the certificate.
“A candidate is not required under the Electoral Act to attach his certificate to his form CF001 before a candidate is adjudged to have the requisite qualification to contest the election”, the tribunal, ruled. According to the tribunal ruling, an affidavit as attached by the incumbent served the purpose. The final decision of the tribunal headed by certified, eminent judges drew a lot of mixed reactions from millions of Nigerians across the country and those in the diaspora.
It simply reeked of magic that after President Buhari had told a bewildered country that his school certificate was with the army, a statement which was dully refuted by the army headquarters, the West African Examination Council immediately travelled to Aso Rock, the seat of power, to issue the president a School Certificate.
A concerned observer would instinctively wonder why WAEC did not present the Mr. President his School Certificate before the elections. The tribunal, in its judgement failed to examine the issued School Certificate to the president to ascertain its authenticity or otherwise. From available evidence, the school certificate issued to Mr. President has his current adult picture embossed on it but we all know that the embossment of pictures on WAEC certificates only commenced in 2002 and Mr. President purportedly wrote his school certificate examination in 1961.
Why did the tribunal made up of honourable judges not engage these issues at the level of their merit? Why would a certificate for an examination written in 1961 carry a picture of an adult person in 2019 when the certificate was issued? Could it be that the eminent members of the five-member tribunal deliberately ignored these issues or are there technicalities not immediately discernable to the layman that we do not know?
That the tribunal will go on to dismiss the school certificate petition by the PDP and affirm that in the absence of a school certificate, an affidavit could suffice, shocked the whole world. Following that judgement, the Nigerian judiciary became the butt of jokes and caricature across the world. By this kind of judgement, the tribunal might have wittingly undermining education and the certification that comes with it. Certainly, Nigeria’s education is under trial.
I wrote my school certificate examination in 1992. When I applied for my certificate, it was issued without any photographs. If indeed a certificate for an examination that was written in 1992 did not come with a photograph, how then did a certificate for an examination written in 1961 carry the photograph of an adult person in 2019? If a person applies to a university for admission and presents an O’Level affidavit, will it be considered as a replacement for his O’Level results?
Expectedly, the PDP and its candidate have proceeded to the Supreme Court hoping to get justice with their petition. With this latest move, Nigerian democracy is still in the hands of the judiciary and the whole world is watching with keen interest. The Nigerian judiciary has the onerous responsibility to save Nigeria’s democracy or set a dangerous precedent that could inevitably threaten the foundations of our democracy with grave potential for collapse.
As the matter proceeds to the Supreme Court, Nigerians expect that truth will prevail although the recent appointment of many judges of the Supreme Court by the federal government leaves much to be desired. If the African saying that ‘he who pays the piper detects the tune’ is anything to go by, one may be suspicious of the intentions of the federal government by their recent appointment of judges.
Nigerian democracy has come at a great price, therefore those who have the responsibility to uphold it must discharge their duties most professionally and efficiently bearing in mind that the future of over two hundred million people is at stake. The petition by the PDP and its presidential flag bearer should be examined critically and thoroughly. If indeed it lacks merit, then let it be thrown out without further delay. However, if it has merit, then let the law take its full course without respect for persons.
It is also very important that both the PDP and APC should imbibe the sentiments of former President Goodluck Jonathan when he declared that his political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Nobody’s political ambition should worth the blood of any Nigerian. Buhari and Atiku should bear in mind that the law can take its course in anybody’s favour and the spirit of sportsmanship should be maintained.
Olekanma writes from Lagos.
