Tribunal VS Verdict: The Buhari Certificate/Candidacy And Nigeria’s Political State

In a nation regarded as the giant of Africa, the executive
powers of the country cannot be underplayed. The executive is
saddled with the responsibility of implementing laws and policies
in the country.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides the
executive power invested on the head of the executive arm in
section 5(1), which include that “…the executive powers of the
federation shall be vested on the president… that is the president
should at all times exist in a country as the executive head of the
state and government.”

The Constitution laid down requirements – for qualifications –
for persons who want to participate in an election. For presidency,
“a person,” as required in 1999 Nigeria’s Constitution, “shall be
qualified for an election to the office of the president if (a) he
is a citizen of Nigeria by birth (b) he has attained the age of 40
(c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that
political party (d) he has been educated up to at least the School
Certificate level or its equivalent.”

The President Muhammadu Buhari certificate scandal started
before the 2015 presidential election. Reports had it that the
president failed to attach his 1961 Cambridge West African School
Certificate (WASC) in the binder of documents- Form CF-001, which
he tendered to the Independent National Electoral commission
(INEC). In an issue which seem to linger on, even after the 2015
election, President Buhari failed to attach his School certificate
for the 2019 Election aspiration. This remained a bone of
contention in the recent victory of the president as a qualified
presidential aspirant despite his apparent lack of evidence of the
school certification.

In the case of Atiku vs Buhari(2019), one of the motions
conjured in the Tribunal ruling was Buhari’s eligibility and
allegation of submitting false information in the affidavit
submitted to INEC to aid his qualification to contest the
election.

As the duty of the judiciary is to interpret laws, the judge
took a careful evaluation of the provision of section 131(d) of the
Constitution and considered the meaning of the phrase ‘School
Certificate or its equivalent’.

In section 318 of the Constitution, the school certificate
means

(a) A Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, or Grade
II Teachers Certificate, the City and Guilds certificate;
(b) Education up to Secondary School Certificate level; or
(c) Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent;
and
(i) service in the public or private sector in federation in any
capacity acceptable to the Independent National Electoral
Commission for a minimum of ten years, and
(ii) attendance at courses and training in such institutions as may
be acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for
periods up to a minimum of one year, and
(iii) the ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the
English language to the satisfaction of the Independent National
Electoral Commission; and
(d) any other qualification acceptable by the Independent National
Electoral Commission.

Prima facie: this apparently shows the
Constitution is little or not particularly concerned about the SSCE
as a requirement of qualification for the post of presidency. It
should be noted that the above clauses are simply optional
conditions which only one of them must be met. Therefore, if a
presidential candidate fails to submit his Senior Secondary School
Certificate, and he has undergone a primary school education, has
its certificate, and is able to read, communicate and write in
English language; is constitutionally qualified to be the president
of the federal Republic of Nigeria.

The cause for concern, as it is, is the trite that the
educational qualification of the president of a sovereign state –
who is to be in a constant interaction with other states – can no
longer remain as currently contained in our constitution. The
provisions set as a basis for the qualification of the presidency
need to be amended by the legislature. It is beyond mere saying
that a person who wish to lead a country must be properly educated.
It may be argued that a President is just a supervisor and
leadership isn’t necessarily by education but it takes an onerous
convincing and courageous defiance to dissuade an inadequately
educated and poorly informed head of state from insisting on
backward foreign policies.

A nation where thousands of her citizens have impressive
footprints in education and various fields of specialties in the
world is repugnant to this archaic law; this is a nation where the
application for a security guard even needs a university degree for
qualification. The office needs a suitable and literate president;
beyond the ability to read, communicate and write in English
language.

It is suggested that the minimum educational requirement should
be the Ordinary National Diploma or its equivalent as this
certification is obtainable across all tertiary institutions of the
federation. It is available in Polytechnics, in Colleges of
Education and the Universities. Beyond the presidential level, this
requirement should extend to the state level for governorship
election.

In conclusion, the Legislature must amend the inadequacies and
other fundamental provisions as related to our constitution. This
is for a better society, for a better Nigeria. A nation should not
be controlled or led by any president whose only qualification is
his ability to read and write in English. A better education
certification should be required for eligible candidacy.

Adegbite Victor is a law undergraduate of the
Olabisi Onabanjo University and can be reached via [email protected]^[1]
He tweets at iamvictorErnest.

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