BUHARI: I GRADUATED ALONGSIDE YAR’ADUA, HAD GRADE II

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the February election, Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), has said the campaign by his opponents regarding the status of his secondary school education, is borne out of mischief.
Speaking in Kano on Wednesday on the controversy, which has suggested that Buhari might not have sat the West African School Certificate Examination as he claimed, having failed to tender the results, the APC flag bearer said he sat the Cambridge University/WASCE in 1961 and graduated in Second Division.
Buhari, a former of State, said, “I attended Provincial Secondary School, Kaduna, now Government College, Kaduna, and sat the University of Cambridge/WASCE in 1961, the year we graduated, alongside (now the late) Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (Chief of General Staff under Gen Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State) and Justice Umar Abdullahi, a former President of Court of Appeal . My examination number is 8202220.”
He added that he had requested his old school, Government College, Kaduna, to make available his result.
Buhari said the controversy was the outcome of his vow to tackle unemployment, insecurity and corruption, accusing the Federal Government of employing every weapon in order to stay in power.
PRESS STATEMENT BY GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR, ON THE SCHOOL CERTIFICATE ISSUE:
Good Morning, Gentlemen of the Press.
I only consented to address you this morning because of the genuine concern expressed by many supporters and other well-meaning Nigerians that the issue be addressed. Otherwise, I would have dismissed it for what it is – sheer mischief and would not have considered it an issue worth the nation’s while.
I had assumed all along that all my records were in the custody of the Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army. Much to my surprise, we are now told that although a record of the result is available, there are no copies of the certificates in my personal file. This is why I formally requested my old school the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina [which is now known as Government College, Katsina] to make available the school’s copy of the result of the Cambridge/West African School Certificate. This will be made available to the press the moment this is available.
However, before we obtain that, let me say for the record that I attended Provincial Secondary School, Katsina. I graduated in 1961 with many prominent Nigerians, including General Shehu Yar’Adua, former chief of staff at the Supreme Headquarters, and Justice Umaru Abdullahi, a former President of the Court of Appeal. We sat for the University of Cambridge/WASC Examination together in 1961, the year we graduated. My examination number was 8280002, and I passed the examination in the Second Division.
And although the ruling party may want to wish this away, the issue in this campaign cannot be my certificate which I obtained 53 years ago. The issues are the scandalous level of unemployment of millions of our young people, the state of insecurity, the pervasive official corruption which has impoverished our people and the lack of concern of the government for anything other than the retention of power at all costs.
Thank you very much.
General Muhammadu Buhari