The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari has addressed the press about the status of his high school certificate in Kano.
Speaking to journalists at the Presidential Lodge at the Kano State government house earlier, the APC candidate said he was constrained to address the press because of the genuine concern of Nigerians and his admirers.
He stated that he wrote the Cambridge/WASC examination 53 years ago at the Provincial Secondary School in Katsina. He listed his examination number 8280002 saying he passed in the second division.
Speaking further, he said that he has directed his former secondary school-now Government College, Katsina- to publish his high school diploma results in national newspapers as soon as it is available.
Buhari used the opportunity to name two people he claimed were his classmates in high school, they include late politician and retired army general, Musa Yar'Adua and a retired President of the Court of Appeal, Umaru Abdullahi.
Below is the Press Statement by General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on the School Certificate Issue
Good Morning, Gentlemen of the Press.
I only consented to address you this morning because of the genuine concern expressed by many supporters and other well-meaning Nigerians that the issue be addressed. Otherwise, I would have dismissed it for what it is - sheer mischief and would not have considered it an issue worth the nation’s while.
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 [which is now known as 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 this is available.
However, before we obtain that, let me say for the record that I attended Provincial Secondary School, Katsina. I graduated in 1961 with many prominent Nigerians, including General Shehu Yar’Adua, former chief of staff at the Supreme Headquarters, and Justice Umaru Abdullahi, a former President of the Court of Appeal. We sat for the University of Cambridge/WASC Examination together in 1961, the year we graduated. My examination number was 8280002, and I passed the examination in the Second Division.
And 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 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.
Thank you very much.
General Muhammadu Buhari