A political group, Ex-Council Chairmen for Atikulated Change (ECCAC), has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disqualify President Muhammadu Buhari from contesting the 2019 presidential election.
The group said if Buhari failed to submit his secondary school leaving certificate to the commission, he should be disqualified accordingly.
This was the position taken at a meeting of ECCAC held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Briefing reporters on the outcome of the meeting, National Coordinator of the group, Hon. Ishola Akinlade, said the former local government chairmen in the country were embarrassed and scandalised by the certificate controversy trailing the president.
Akinlade, who was a former chairman of Yewa South Local Government, noted that it was wrong for a nation like Nigeria to be led by a president without certificate.
According to him, the nation’s Constitution and Electoral Law require the presentation of authentic and genuine credentials by candidates sponsored by political parties.
He explained that ECCAC, which is working assiduously for the ambition of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will not leave any stone unturned to ensure Buhari’s disqualification.
Akinlade said, “President Buhari should be made to present his certificate or risk disqualification from the presidential race in 2019. He claimed in 2015 that his academic credentials were with the military authorities.
“How can a retired general and former head of state find it difficult to retrieve his certificate from an institution he once headed, if he truly has it? We are therefore tempted to believe that the president was not even qualified ab initio to contest.
“In the present day Nigeria, should we allow somebody without certificate to continue to rule? It is untenable and unpardonable.
“We are calling for Buhari’s disqualification if he fails to produce his certificate. The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, must respond to the clarion calls of Nigerians.”
He vowed that the group would not hesitate to drag INEC to court if the president failed to comply with the constitution by submitting his credentials for the presidential election.
