ALASHOCK'S BLOG

INEC Chairman: Prof. Attahiru Jega

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said there is no basis for objecting to the affidavit presented by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, over the circumstances surrounding his certificates.

It also said that it does not have the mandate to screen or reject candidates, stressing that its role is simply to display the nominees of parties for claims and objections and that only when there are objections will it revert to the parties to do the needful.

The APC presidential candidate, Buhari, did not submit his school certificates and other credentials to INEC, explaining in a sworn affidavit that the documents are with the military. But the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, who insisted that he would not comment on individual candidates, said: “When parties file the nominees, the law requires that INEC should display those nominees for claims and objections.

“If objections are made to those claims, the commission reverts to the parties because the statutory mandate is on the parties to nominate their candidates not for INEC to choose their candidates for them. “INEC will have to revert to the political party and say there is a challenge on the credentials or the criteria that you have cited for any particular nominee and then we ask them to do the needful.

“That is either to address the issue or verify to see whether or not it is truth. It is there job so they have to sort it out before they present their candidate. So the commission has no role in disqualifying candidates.”

On whether candidates are required to submit credentials, he replied, “All the credentials are required to submit they have to submit.”

When asked what INEC would do if all the credentials are not submitted, Idowu said: “Don’t put words in my mouth. We don’t have this situation only in INEC. Moreover, it happens everywhere, people submit affidavits. It is not new.

“You submit affidavits, attestations in place of original certificates. Even for your NYSC certificate, you submit an affidavit where you don’t have the original.”

On whether the commission reverted to the APC on the absence of Buhari’s credentials, he said: “I am not aware of any issue that the commission should revert to.”

He further stated that the commission was not aware of a challenge over the issue, stressing, “Are you the one challenging? Let us not preempt issues that have not come up. I don’t think INEC can be anticipatory because it has not arisen.”

When asked about the certificates the APC presidential candidate submitted for his previous election in 2011, Idowu said: “I cannot speak on individual candidates. It is better for people to abuse me on this one than for INEC to be drawn into partisan squabbles.” He however cited the guidelines for the submission of candidates under the Electoral Act, noting that there is a provision for sworn affidavits covering personal particulars in form CF01.