– WAEC has clarified the alleged discrepancy in the attestation of results issued to President Buhari
– The attestation does not include two subjects that were listed in the 2015 statement of result given by the president’s alma mater
– WAEC, however, clarified that subjects that a candidate has F9s are no longer captured in Certificates or Attestation of Results.
– President Buhari failed the two missing subjects
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has clarified the alleged discrepancy in the results of the school certificate examination of President Muhammadu Buhari released in 2015 and the results in an “attestation certificate” issued to the president on Friday, November 2.
The president’s school certificate examination, which was a major controversy in the build-up to the 2015 elections, recently became a matter of public discourse after he told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that his school certificate is still with military authorities.
President Buhari stated this while submitting essential forms to INEC for the 2019 elections, which he would be participating in as the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The president’s claim immediately drew another round of intense criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and many Nigerians who expressed doubt that he took the examination.
However, on Friday evening, the president Tweeted via his official handle that he had received the attestation and confirmation of his result.
“Today I received the attestation and confirmation of my 1961 West African School Certificate (WASC) Examination result, from the Registrar of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). It was also an opportunity for me to thank WAEC for upholding its integrity over the years,” he wrote.
But after the result was released, some Nigerians suggested on social media that there was discrepancy in the attestation certificate.
They claimed that in the statement of results this newspaper obtained in 2015, stamped and signed by the principal of Government College Katsina, President Buhari’s alma mater, the president scored four credits in English Language, Hausa Language, Geography, and health Science, respectively. He also scored a ‘Good’ in History but failed Mathematics and Wood Work with the lowest possible grades represented by F9.
The statement of result given President Buhari in 2015 by Government College, Katsina.
However, in the attestation certificate released on November 2, while other results remained the same as those in the statement of results obtained by this newspaper in 2015, the president’s score in Mathematics, and in Wood Work, was conspicuously missing.
The ‘Attestation of Results given to President Buhari by WAEC
This led to speculations that the attestation was doctored. WAEC has, however, clarified the alleged discrepancy and explained the reasons why the two subjects are missing.
WAEC explained in a tweet that “subjects that a candidate has F9s are no longer captured in Certificates.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the attestation of result presented to President Buhari by WAEC as a political certificate.
Kola Ologbodiyan who is the publicity secretary of the party on Friday, November 2 alleged that the certificate given to the president was procured.
He said: “It is a tragicomedy. We never expected Mr President to dramatically come this low because you cannot have a certificate and be calling it an attestation. What are they attesting to? We stand by our position that Mr President has no school certificate.
“It is simply a political certificate. We have said that the Buhari presidency and his handlers are always fretting at the mention of a certificate. So, they want to mislead Nigerians to say that Mr President has a school certificate.”
