WAEC official says Cambridge assessment report to Buhari not equal to certificate

A senior official of the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) on Wednesday told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja that the assessment result issued to President Muhammadu Buhari by Cambridge University Assessment International Education was not equal to a certificate.

A deputy registrar in charge of school registration, Henry Adewunmi, made the clarification on Wednesday at the resumed hearing at the tribunal where the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is challenging the declaration of Buhari as winner of the February 23 presidential poll.

According to the senior WAEC official, the assessment which led to the issuance of result to Buhari was moderated by the Cambridge Assessment International Education in conjunction with WAEC.
Adewunmi, who was led in evidence by Buhari’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), told the tribunal that 18 candidates sat for the 1961 WAEC examination, including President Buhari who was indeed number two on the candidates’ list.

Testifying further, he claimed that Buhari sat for eight subjects and had credits in five subjects as follows: Oral English C5, History A3, Geography C6, Hausa Language C5, and Health Sciences C6.

However, under cross-examination by Atiku and PDP’s counsel, Levy Uzoukwu, the witness who claimed to have worked with WAEC for 30 years said the assessment report on President Buhari is not a document from WAEC because it bears Cambridge University Assessment International Education.

Further cross-examined by the petitioners, Adewunmi admitted that he never worked with the University of Cambridge and that his own signature is not on the assessment report.
He added that the attestation letter issued to Buhari on November 2, 2018 was not a certificate and it can be issued under various conditions.

Another witness, Mohammed Abba, a senior special assistant to President Buhari, who identified the President in a group photograph of the 1961 set of Katsina Provincial Secondary School, said the result sheet possessed by the President is not same as a certificate.

Abba claimed that he has known Buhari for over 30 years but that he never served in the Nigerian Army and was never a schoolmate to Buhari.

He said the facts he deposed to in his witness statement on oath were obtained from the Curriculum Vitae and available record on Buhari.

When presented with Buhari’s CV, Abba told the tribunal that although schools attended by Buhari were listed, no certificate is listed in the CV or attached to it.

On the differences in the name ‘Mohamed’ Buhari contained in the Cambridge documents and ‘Muhammadu’ Buhari being the real name of the President, the witness maintained that the two names are the same in Islam.

Two other witnesses called by Buhari, Mohammed Kwatu, a retired broadcaster in Niger State, and Usman Dagona, a businessman in Nasarawa State, maintained that the February 23 presidential election was free and fair.

When their attention was drawn to some results sheets, they told the tribunal that they were not at the point where alterations were carried out by INEC officials.

Buhari, who opened his defence in the petition against his election on Tuesday, has so far called seven witnesses.
The tribunal adjourned to August 1 for further hearing in the petition.