Presidential Election Petition Tribunal: I Signed, Collected Buhari’s Cambridge 12 Days Ago – Abba Kyari

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The controversy surrounding the educational qualification of President Muhammadu Buhari for the February 23 presidential election, took center stage on Tuesday at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari, on Tuesday said before the Tribunal that he received and signed for Muhammadu Buhari’s Cambridge assessment 12 days ago, adding that he has known the President for nearly 40 years.

This is just as a witnesses, Major General Paul Tafa (Rtd), who claimed to have been enlisted in the Nigerian Army with Buhari on April 16, 1962, denied that they were ordered to submit their certificates to the military board.

President Buhari had in 2011 claimed that his certificates were with the military board on request.

Kyari further told the Tribunal that Buhari has credit in five subjects including English Language in his West African School Certificate WASC examination conducted by Cambridge University.

But Tafa, while answering a question from Yunus Usman (SAN), lead counsel to INEC, insisted that the Nigerian Army never asked them to surrender their certificates in 1962 for whatever reason. 

When asked by Usman to confirm that the Nigerian Army had asked them to submit their certificates in 1962, Tafa was emphatic in his response, that “there was nothing of such during our time”.

Under cross examination by Atiku’s and PDP’s lead counsel, Dr Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), the first defence witness said that Buhari being the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has all military formations under him.

Also under cross examination by Uzoukwu, Kyari said that he personally received and signed for Buhari’s Cambridge University assessment on July 18, 2019, adding that Buhari in his Curriculum Vitae listed the schools he attended but did not list any of the certificates obtained.

He also admitted not being Buhari’s classmate at any time and never a member of the Nigerian Army, adding that he was not in possession of any of Buhari’s certificates.

Further cross examined by Atiku’s counsel, Kyari admitted that the Diploma Certificate in Strategic Studies he claimed Buhari possessed in his witness statement was not listed in Buhari’s CV.

Kyari told the Tribunal that Atiku was a Cameroonian by birth, but added however that he never knew nor met Atiku’s father and grandfather.

Another witness, Sule Mai’Adua a retired Civil Servant, admitted that he attended the same Secondary School with Buhari, adding that he took photograph with him while they were in class six, adding that he wrote WASC examination in 1961 with Buhari and that he (Buhari) has two certificates.

When asked to read the Nigerian Army’s statement that Buhari’s certificates were not in his personal file with the military, the witness said he was never in the Army and does not know the position of the Army, but insisted that Buhari has two certificates.

Earlier, Buhari through his lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), tendered series of documents including newspaper publications, receipts and certified true copies of WASC certificate, confidential result sheet from Provincial Secondary School and copy of Buhari’s CV duly signed by him as exhibits.

Although, both INEC and the All Progressives Congress (APC), did not object to the admissibility of the documents, Atiku and PDP registered their opposition to the admissibility of the documents, but reserved reasons to the objection till the final address stage.

According to them, the documents were not pleaded and listed as documents to be tendered, adding that it was shocking to know that the documents were only filed today (July 30, 2019).

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