You Don’t Need WAEC Certificate To Become President, Says Keyamo
The Director, Strategic Communications of President Buhari 2019 Presidential Campaign, Festus Keyamo, SAN, on Monday said that to become a President or Governor in Nigeria, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) certification is not a criteria.
Keyamo in a series of tweets disclosed that Nigerian constitution clarified that the School Certificate or its equivalent required to contest to mean primary 6 School Leaving Certificate.
According to him, if you have occupied the public office for a reasonable length of time, by the provisions of the constitution, you do not even need a WAEC certificate to become President of Nigeria.
He was reacting to the allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party’s(PDP) claim that President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t deserve to run following the controversies sorrounding his WAEC certificates.
Furthermore, Keyamo argued that in the case of the PDP governorship candidate in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, the examination body denied the authenticity of his certificate and he should face disqualification.
Keyamo wrote on his official twitter handle, “By the definition of “School Certificate or its equivalent” in section 318 of the 1999 const. u don’t need a WAEC certificate to become President or Governor, but if you present a FORGED WAEC or other certificate to INEC for any office you will be disqualified. #OsunStateScenario
“Forgery occurs when the supposed author of a document denies ever making it or denies its authenticity. WAEC has confirmed the authenticity of PMB’s certificate by issuing an attestation of it. Case closed. In #OsunCaseScenario WAEC has denied the authenticity. See d difference?
“Let me end my free lecture series by saying that the crux of the matter is that if you don’t have a WAEC certificate, there’s no need to go ahead & forge one in a bid to be Governor or President. You can still be qualified, regardless. That’s the mistake made in #OsunCaseScenario”
However, reactions have trailed Keyamo’s claim. See reactions from social media.
An aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri wrote “@OfficialAPCNg took Senator Adeleke to Court, alleging that he had no certificate, now a shameless Festus (Stephanie Otobo) @FKeyamo is arguing that @MBuhari DOES NOT need a WAEC certificate to be President. It’s like saying you need a certificate to be gateman but not to be MD!
“You don’t need WAEC certificate to become president —Keyamo
And you are surprised Nigeria became the world’s headquarters for extreme poverty under @MBuhari? What do you expect with such poor mentalities as displayed by the likes of Festus (Stephanie Otobo) @FKeyamo #RenosDarts
“How can someone who voted for @MBuhari question my intelligence? You are poor and uneducated and want to improve. Yet you vote for a man who can’t increase the number of his cattle. You vote for a man who claims ‘You Dont Need WAEC to be President’. And it is me you call stupid?
Twitter user @yungnel commented “@fkeyamo please sir, How do I convince my cousin to still study hard for the WAEC exam she is currently writing when she finds out the certificate isn’t necessary when vying for office like President of her country?
@delaw: Festus Keyamo that worked under the great Gani Fawehinmi and should have learnt a thing or two about honesty and the bond in the words of his mouth is saying you don’t need waec to become President?
@ubig1 – “You don’t need WAEC to be president of Nigeria according to Festus Keyamo But you need to have a degree & you need to complete your NYSC to be a minister in Nigeria
Absolute nonsense & madness!!
@Ceorhemz: “Keyamo may be right or wrong. But something is definitely wrong with a constitution that permits a man with WAEC certificate to be the President of this country but won’t allow a man without a minimum of BSc & NYSC certificate to become the permanent secretary of a ministry
@Deji_OoniAbj- “Nigerian politicians have concocted and adjusted the Constitution in a way that favour.
