Alleged Certificate Forgery: PDP accused WAEC of unholy relationship with Kwara Gov
...as trial concludes 26 July
By Mumini AbdulKareem
The Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) of putting its reputation on the line by exonerating Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq over the allegation of certificate forgery.
The PDP had dragged the Kwara State Governor to court over allegation that his WAEC certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to contest for the 2019 governorship election was forged.
The matter is presently being heard at the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kwara State.
In a statement by the state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Tunde Ashaolu, the party accused WAEC of entering into unholy relationship with Governor Abdulrazaq.
Describing the development as “strange” and “curious”, the PDP maintained that a WAEC official, Victor Oladeji Olorunsola said to be a Senior Examination Officer failed to prove he is the authentic and mandated representative of the body when he appeared before the Tribunal.
According to the party, “the decision by WAEC to stake its reputation in this awkward “manner as it is doing in the Kwara Gubernatorial case is very curious, unprecedented and unexpected” adding that the regional examination body appears to be collaborating with (APC) in the attempt to justify what is clearly a forgery of its document.
The statement reads in full:
“We in the Kwara State Chapter of the PDP have been watching with dismay the strange developments at the Election Petition Tribunal in Kwara State concerning the allegations of forgery of the Secondary school certificate results by the Kwara State Governor, Mr. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
“We noted that today, July 11, 2019, a strange person, one Mr. Victor Oladeji Olorunsola said to be a Senior Examination Officer, who could not prove that he is the authentic and mandated representative of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) appeared before the Tribunal to give some evidence which we consider inconsistent, uncoordinated and unrelated to the issue at hand.
“This is curious because previously, the branch controller of WAEC in Ilorin, Mr. Waheed Bamidele Amode, had been attending the Tribunal to represent WAEC. However, on the day he was billed to give evidence, he mysteriously disappeared and gave no letter or word indicating that he would be represented.
“First, the said Mr. Olorunsola, who claimed to have testified on behalf of WAEC did not produce the certified true copy (CTC) of the said result of Mr. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, neither did the Governor produce the original certificate issued to him by WAEC to prove that he has it.
“The so-called WAEC official appeared very jittery and unsure of himself and his evidence throughout the proceeding.
“Two, the subjects listed in the statement produced by the so-called WAEC man are completely different from the ones listed in the forged certificate which Mr. Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq has consistently submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including the one attached to his gubernatorial nomination form.
“For example, the statement presented by the supposed WAEC official indicated that Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq sat for “Bible Knowlege” while the certificate he presented to INEC showed that he sat for “Religious Knowledge”. Furthermore, the WAEC statement indicated that he sat for English Language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, CR/BLD and CR, when in fact the certificate submitted to INEC did not contain any of these subjects.
“On the contrary, the certificate Mr. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq purports that he sat for the subjects “GEDM Building Drawing” and “Art” which were not reflected in the statement presented by the so-called WAEC official.
“We maintain that the decision by WAEC to stake its reputation in this awkward manner as it is doing in the Kwara Gubernatorial Case is very curious, unprecedented and unexpected. The regional examination body appears to be collaborating in the attempt to justify what is clearly a forgery of its document”, the party added.
The PDP said it implored the leadership of WAEC to come out clean on “this unholy relationship with Mr. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and distance themselves from the manipulations going on adding that “There is obviously an attempt to mislead the Tribunal and this will not augur well for the dispensation of Justice in this matter.
“An organization that punishes students for examination malpractice should not be seen to be engaging in malpractice of this sort”, the PDP added.
…as trial concludes 26 July
The Kwara State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal will conclude the hearing of the suit challenging the authenticity of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq case on 26th July, 2019.
The Secretary of the tribunal, Barrister Peter Simon who confirmed the date to our reporter last night stressed that the trial will last four days from 23rd through 26th July, 2019.
It would be recalled that during the hearing on Thursday, WAEC officially confirmed that Governor Abdulrazaq sat for the secondary school leaving examination in 1976 at the Government College, Kaduna.
The council also confirmed that the Governor sat for the exam using Razaq A.R. as contained in the credentials he repeatedly submitted to INEC when contesting for elections.
The confirmation was contained in the certified true copy of the results of the Governor and other candidates of the same set that the examination body forwarded to the Kwara State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ilorin.
Meanwhile, the People Democratic Party (PDP) through his counsel, Abdulwahab Bamidele is challenging the election of Abdulrazaq on the allegation that he did not have WAEC results as required under the law.
Bamidele, who cross examined the WAEC witness, Olorunisola Victor argued that the Governor’s result doesn’t really reflect WAEC mode of operations.
Also during cross examination on Thursday, the lead PDP counsel, Paul Erokoro (SAN), counsel to the party disowned the representative of WAEC just minutes after he vehemently fought to have him testify at the tribunal.
Erokoro said he no longer agreed that the witness had truly come to represent the examination body because the subpoenas did not contain any minute suggesting he had been asked to represent the WAEC.
“We don’t accept this witness as coming from WAEC because there’s no minute on the subpoena that he’s from WAEC. We can’t take his ID as evidence that he’s from WAEC. WAEC should send a witness with instructions to testify on its behalf. We shall therefore be applying for a bench warrant for the head of WAEC to appear before this tribunal,” Erokoro said.
Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission Rowland Otaru (SAN); Governor Abdulrazaq, Kunle Kalejaiye SAN; and APC, Akin Olujimi SAN, all objected to the application.
They insisted that the witness had been sworn on oath and had given his evidence and so must be cross-examined accordingly.
