Presidential Election Tribunal: WAEC Says Buhari’s Document Not A Certificate

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

There was mild drama at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, as the Deputy Registrar of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Oshindehinde Adewumi denied certifying the Cambridge University’s Moderated International Examination credentials produced by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari’s statement of results and the broadsheet for the results of the 18 candidates who sat for the examinations in 1961 were presented before the Tribunal as Exhibits 19 and 21.

Oshindehinde Adewumi, the deputy registrar of WAEC, who appeared before the Tribunal on subpoena, testified before the five-man tribunal led by Justice Mohammed Garba, as Buhari’s fourth defence witness.

Adewumi appeared before the Tribunal in a  petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging Buhari’s victory at the February 23, 2019 poll and lack of academic qualification.

He said: “this document ( referring to Exhibit R-21) is not bearing my name or signature. You cannot expect me to certify a document that is not from WAEC. This document is bearing Cambridge Assessment International Certified Statement. It is not a document from the WAEC.”

When cross-examined by the counsel for the All Progressives Congress, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Adewunmi said he, as a WAEC official, certified one of the documents bearing the name of the University of Cambridge Moderated Examination earlier tendered as Exhibit marked R21.

The witness noted that he had been working with WAEC for about 30 years, told the tribunal that the examination was conducted by Cambridge University in conjunction with WAEC.

He confirmed that 18 persons sat for the examinations in 1961, adding that Buhari was listed as number two on the list of candidates for the examination.

He confirmed that Buhari sat for eight subjects and had five credits in the examination – Oral English, C5; History, A3; Geography, C6; Hausa, C5; and Health Science, C6, with aggregate of 32 and he was awarded Grade 2,” he told the Tribunal.

When asked, he confirmed, “whoever has this (the R21 exhibit) has secondary education”.

Under cross-examination by the petitioners’ lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), Adewunmi was asked if Exhibit R19 was a certificate, he said, “I cannot say whether it is a certificate because my signature is not on the certificate. It is not bearing my name or the name of my organisation”.

Asked again, the witness said, “This document is bearing the name of Cambridge University Assessment International Education”.

When asked if the document was issued by WAEC, he said, “It is not a document from the West Africa Examination Council”.

Asked about Exhibit R21, he said, “This is the foundation, the primary foundation for issuance of a certificate.”

 When asked if the document was a certificate, the witness noted that 

“This is not a certificate.”

When asked, he also said, “I have never worked with the University of Cambridge”.

The petitioners’ lawyers asked the witness to compare the number of subjects listed against Buhari in them. 

The witness said  that in R21, “The number of subjects listed against the 2nd respondent (Buhari) is eight”, and in R19 “six subjects”.

He also confirmed that the first name on the two documents was “Mohamed” as against the President’s “Muhammadu”.

The witness confirmed that WAEC registrar, Dr. Iyi Uwadae, issued a WAEC attestation certificate to Buhari on November 2, 2018, while arguing with the petitioners’ lawyer that issuance of an attestation certificate was not limited to cases of loss or misplacement.

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