The minimum educational qualification for the office of the President seems to have generated a furore since it emerged that GMB does not have the physical paper of his qualification in his possession. One of the contributors to the discourse, Chief Mike Ozekhome baffles me with his submission that Section 131 (d) of the 1999 constitution prescribed Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent as the minimum requirement for the office of the President, he then went on to say that the equivalent is GCE,NECO etc are the equivalent. This is very far from the truth. One may be tempted to allow this to pass but for the stature of the writer as a SAN and a respected member of the legal profession whose view may be taken by many people without cross checking. The revered Chief also boasted that he has handled many electoral matters in the past which made him a sort of authority on the constitution and constitutionalism. The goof in the Chiefs position is reading Section 131 in isolation of Section 318 of the same Constitution. Section 318 is the citation,Interpretation and commencement section of the constitution. I quote verbatim the section as it relates to the interpretation of school certificate. School certificate or its equivalent means- (a) a secondary school certificate or its equivalent,or Grade II Teachers Certificate,theCity and Guilds Certificate;or (b)education up to secondary school Certificate level;or (c)Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent and- (i)service in the public or private sector in the Federation in any capacity acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for a minimum of ten years, and (ii)attendance at courses and training in such institutions as may be acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for periods up to a minimum of one year,and (iii)the ability to read,write, understand and communicate in the English language to the satisfaction of the Independent National Electoral Commission;and (d)any other qualification acceptable by National Electoral Commission. From the foregoing, Any noise about paper qualification is just that- noise as the sub- section (b) only requires that you show that you were educated up to secondary level. Much as the presentation of the paper certificate is desirable, it is not a condition cast on stone. It is also difficult for any person of the stature of GMB not to meet the condition of this section. This all much ado about nothing How one would wish that this electioneering campaign is conducted in a civil manner by politician and closet politician as I really do not believe that the Learned SAN is ignorant of this section of the constitution.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 06:51:32 +0000
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