Eko United Group has urged the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) to tender Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s original certificate, following alleged forgery case against him at the Lagos Election Petition Tribunal.
The Team Leader, Mr Ayodele Kumolu-Johnson, made the call at a World Press Conference on the 2023 Election in Lagos State on Wednesday.
Kumolu-Johnson said the release of the governor’s original certificate would save the governor and the examination body from unnecessary embarrassment at the tribunal.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that WAEC told the court at the tribunal through its representative that the council does not retain a copy of a candidate’s certificate and so was unable to tender Sanwo-Olu’s own.
NAN recalls that the tribunal had ordered the examination body to submit its result verification portal back-end server and other information technology infrastructure for forensic analysis of Sanwo-Olu’s results.
The tribunal issued the order based on the request of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship Candidate, Abdulazeez Adediran, that Sanwo-Olu allegedly lied on oath in his 2023 Form EC9 by presenting a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2019.
Kumolu-Johnson said it was imperative to use this opportunity to call on WAEC to produce Sanwo-Olu’s 1981 certificate in the next 48 hours or be ready for litigation in this regard.
“We are addressing the recent development regarding the case of allegations of a forged statement of WAEC result made against Gov. Sanwo-Olu at the ongoing Lagos Election Petition Tribunal.
“We take this matter extremely seriously and emphasise our commitment to transparency, accountability, and upholding the principles of democracy.
“It has come to our attention that our Gov., Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was declared the winner of the state governorship election by the electoral umpire, has been accused at the election petition tribunal of presenting a forged statement of WAEC result to INEC when he contested in 2019.
“Thereby risking a disqualification as enshrined in section 182 (1) j of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We therefore deem it imperative to use this World Press Conference to call on WAEC to produce Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s 1981 certificate in the next 48 hours or be ready for litigation in this regard,” he said.
Kumolu-Johnson said it was quite unfathomable that Sanwo-Olu, who claimed under oath in his form EC9 for the 2023 election that he sat for WAEC in 1981, refused to attach the said certificate as claimed.
He said the group was also aware that after WAEC result verification portal had revealed his attached statement of result to be a forged document, a sudden upload that was hurriedly done did not also tally with statement presented to INEC.
The team leader said despite having same year and exam diet, names on them were clearly different, adding that this had further caused them, the people of Lagos an embarrassment that needed to be addressed urgently.
Kumolu-Johnson noted that it was disheartening that an institution like WAEC would expose itself and reveal culpability in the sudden upload of result on the council’s portal, after the same portal had earlier proved the result to be a forged document.
He said that worse still, WAEC appeared at the tribunal to file a motion to stop a forensic analysis of the institution’s back-end server.
The leader added that such a development would expose the complicity in the sudden and fraudulent upload of the result.
Kumolu-Johnson said the questions begging for answers were: Whose interest is WAEC protecting? What exactly is WAEC out to cover? Why waste public funds on engaging a legal counsel over a matter of no interest to the council?
The team leader noted that it firmly believed that all individuals, including elected officials, should be held accountable for their actions.
“This case is already a bad case as both Sanwo-Olu and WAEC haven’t been able to put a lie to the allegation before them.
“This is by presenting to the tribunal the Governor’s WAEC certificate or an attestation letter which is the statutory document WAEC issues, in case of loss of certificate.
“To complicate this matter, the purported sudden upload of the result was badly done with conspicuous discrepancies in both the new upload and the allegedly forged one he presented to INEC,” he said.
Kumolu-Johnson urged Sanwo-Olu to emulate Mmesoma, a lady who recently went viral for forging her Jamb result, confessed and apologised, adding that the governor should also tender a public apology to the people of Lagos.
He said transparency and honesty were fundamental to the strength of the democracy, adding that the truth must be uncovered and justice must not only be served but be seen to have been served.
The team leader said Eko United remained committed to serving the people of Lagos and protecting their democratic rights.
Kumolu-Johnson assured the public that they would closely monitor the proceedings of the Lagos Election Petition Tribunal and advocate for a fair and impartial resolution to the matter.
He added that it would continue to provide updates as the case unfolded and reiterated the group’s commitment to a transparent and democratic society. (NAN)