Kwara Governor-Elect Denies Submitting Fake WAEC Certificate To INEC

Kwara Governor-Elect, Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq.

The Governor-elect of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has denied claims that he forwarded a fake WAEC certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the recently conducted governorship election in the state.

Defending Abdulrazaq at the State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Tuesday, his lawyer, Mr Lawal Jimoh, explained that the governor-elect graduated from Government College, Kaduna in June 1976, hence, the claims of possessing a fake document were false.

“My client attended Government College, Kaduna. And of course, he wrote his WAEC in 1976. The records are there, they are clear,” he stated.

A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Apado ward, in the Ilorin East local government area of the state, Adekunle Abraham, had challenged the authenticity of Abdulrazaq’s WAEC certificate.

Specifically, Abraham pointed out that the way the defendant’s name was written as “RASAQ A R” had raised some suspicious.

“From my personal experience, the West African Examination Council( WAEC) as a standard examination body in West Africa do not normally abbreviate names on the school certificates issued by it,” he said.

Furthermore, he said he knew for a fact the the defendant did not sit for the exams and was, therefore, not issued with the purported certificate.

He, therefore, urged the court to declare that the APC candidate lied on oath and submitted forged documents to contest the gubernatorial elections.

Speaking with journalists after the court session, the claimant’s lawyer, Lawrence Ola, said the defendant’ lawyer was yet to file a defence but only filed a Memorandum of Appearance for his client.

“The defendant posted an affidavit that he got a WAEC certificate detailed 1976. And based on the findings of my client, we see that it is a cock and bull story. As a matter of fact, it is perjury,” he said.

But also speaking, the defendant’s lawyer who said that his client was served notice of the suit on May 2, 2019, added that appearance was filed immediately.

He also maintained that his client, got his WAEC result from Government College, Kaduna with full evidence of WAEC result obtained from the school in 1976.

In his ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Adenike Akinpelu adjourned the case to June 10, saying the defence was still within the time frame to file their statements.