The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to claim by the spokesman for the All Progressives Congress, APC, campaign Council, Festus Keyamo that one does not need a WAEC certificate to become President of Nigeria.
Keyamo said this while appearing on Channels Tv on Sunday night when asked about the eligibility of President Muhammadu Buhari to contest the presidential election.
According to him, if you have occupied the public office for a reasonable length of time, you do not need a WAEC certificate to become president of Nigeria.
However, reacting, PDP in a statement on Monday by its spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan called on President Muhammadu Buhari to tender his West African Examination Certificate (WAEC) to the presidential election petition’s tribunal.
The main opposition party also called on Nigerians to note that by claiming that an aspirant does not need WAEC certificate, but the ability to speak English, to contest for the office of the President, the Buhari Presidency, through Festus Keyamo, had finally admitted that President Buhari does not have a WAEC certificate as he claimed in his INEC documentation.
The PDP, therefore warmed APC campaign spokesperson, Festus Keyamo, to stop “insulting” the sensibility of Nigerians .
The statement read in part “An attempt to deceive the public using a defective reading and skewed interpretation of a section of the constitution cannot exonerate President Buhari.
“Moreover, Section 295 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is very clear on issues of interpretations and reference to questions of law.
“The PDP, therefore, maintains that the onus is on President Buhari, as ‘Mr. Integrity’ to tender the certificate he claims to possess before the tribunal instead of this lame diversion from Presidential aides
“It’s completely inexcusable for President Buhari to swear to an affidavit to claim an educational qualification he did not possess.”