Certificate Saga: Complainants in Suit against Buhari Allege Threat to Their Lives

 Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.)

By Chuks Okocha  and Tobi Soniyi in Abuja


The complainants who filed a suit against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), have alleged a threat to their lives by unknown persons.

On Wednesday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of complicity in the controversy over the secondary school certificate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari.

The four complainants are Shield Ufot, Jimmy David, Ogueri Enwerem and Tochukwu Okorie.

They filed a direct criminal complaint against Buhari before an Abuja Magistrate’s Court, asking the court to direct that the former head of state “be brought to book” for allegedly claiming on oath that he had a certificate he did not obtain.

They addressed journalists at their lawyer’s office in Abuja.

However, they said they had not reported the threat to the police.  They also declined to supply details of the telephone calls and text messages through which the threat was allegedly issued.

Ufot said the suit was filed on behalf of the Niger Delta Salvation Front.
Speaking on behalf of his clients, their lawyer, Ezekiel Ugochukwu, said the threat would not deter them from pursuing the case to conclusion.

He said: “As you already know, my clients filed a direct criminal complaint at the Magistrate’s Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to bring Buhari to book in respect of criminal action of deposing to affidavit on oath which obviously turned out to be false.

“Since we filed that suit, we have received a lot of threats from different angle demanding that we withdraw the suit or face severe consequences.

Meanwhile, specifically, the PDP is asking INEC to state exactly when Buhari submitted his secondary certificate and whether he submitted it within the required date as specified in the Electoral Act.

PDP was reacting to the statement credited to  Buhari that his academic certificates had been submitted to INEC.

It said: “This is the first time INEC by law has got those documents and they said they have got them. So, anybody who has any different view should go to court. I think they have gone to court. So, let them remain there.”

Addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaigns, Femi Fani Kayode, directed the following questions to INEC, “When did INEC and this Legal Adviser receive the documents given that there was a nothing on record from him after December 18, 2014.

“Where these mysterious documents received within or after the time frame specified by the electoral guidelines? Could this be the source of Buhari’s renewed arrogance that anybody not satisfied should go to court? Has INEC published
these documents as required by law? Who is in breach of the Electoral Act, Section 31:3 - Buhari or Ibrahim Bawa?” he asked the electoral commission.

According to Fani-Kayode, “The electoral body must come clean on this matter; otherwise we will be compelled to pass a no-confidence vote on it. If INEC is complicit in the desperate and despicable attempt to extricate Buhari, without compliance with the provisions of the law, from this lingering embarrassment, we will have no other choice than to harbour the suspicion and fear that the electoral body is already compromised and can lend itself to the ungodly agenda of truncating our victory when our candidate wins.”

He urged the election observers to keep watch of the unfolding events regarding  Buhari’s qualification or otherwise, stating that in  other countries, “it is about obeying the rule of law and not about protecting the political interest of an individual, especially since a free, fair and credible election is not about the day of voting alone but also the processes leading up to it.”

 http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/certificate-saga-complainants-in-suit-against-buhari-allege-threat-to-their-lives/200410/