Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), has released his secondary school examination number and named some of his secondary schoolmates in his efforts to kill the snowballing controversy over his high school certificate. Buhari had claimed that the certificate was in the custody of the Nigerian Army which, however, came out yesterday to deny the claim.

In a statement he read to the press in Kano, the former Head of State expressed surprise over the position of the army and accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of mischief over the issue. Buhari did not, however, produce the certificate as expected, but rather announced that his alma mater would do so at a later date.

His words: “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.”

•Photo shows Buhari.