This is another fairly long but expository piece, I must state at the beginning. In the election petition filed by the immediate past Osun State Governor and his APC, the petitioners alleged over-voting, non-compliance and non-qualification.

The focus of this piece is not on their allegations of over-voting or non-compliance but on non-qualification as they seem to have technically abandoned their claim of non-compliance and over-voting, obviously in view of the reality of the cross-examination by the Respondents’ counsel which has rendered such claim to become evaporated.

In Ground 1 of their petition, they alleged that Adeleke was not qualified to contest the July 16th, 2022 Osun governorship election.

The facts and particulars supplied by the petitioners in support of the ground of non-qualification insinuate that

(i) Adeleke did not possess the requisite educational qualification to contest the election

(ii) that he presented forged certificate to INEC at the material time of the election.

(iii) that the Penn Foster High School Diploma Certificate and the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Atlanta Metropolitan State College presented by Adeleke were forged.

(iv) that Adeleke submitted forged certificate in his Form CF001 to INEC in 2018.

(v) that Adeleke forged the academic documents presented by him which suggested that he got his degree within a period of 24 days, and that he didn’t possess any document to have qualified him for the Diploma and the Degree.

(vi) that he attached a Testimonial bearing Ede Muslim Grammar School, Osun State, with a 1988 date, to his 2018 INEC form, (meanwhile Osun State was not in existence as at 1988), while in his INEC Form for the 2022 election, he attached a Letter of Attestation from Ede Muslim High School dated 22nd May, 2016, stating that he attended Ede Muslim Grammar School, from 1976 to 1981.

(vii) that the letter of attestation cannot be equated to a testimonial and that it is at variance with the information supplied by Adeleke as to his secondary school attendance.

I am not rendering this piece to argue whether the issue of qualification especially as regards information supplied by a candidate on the INEC Forms raises a pre or post election issue.

I am dealing with the merit of the forgery allegation by the Petitioners. The petitioners have a load heavier than mount Arafat on their shoulder to be able to establish forgery.

Dealing with the merit of their claim, I will quickly dismiss the allegation of forgery of the High School Diploma and the Atlanta College Bachelor of Science Degree Certificates as baseless.

The Schools are there to attend to any inquiry about the genuineness of the respective certificates issued to Adeleke. For the purpose of clarity, the High School Diploma was not the pre-requisite for the Atlanta College Degree as both certificates are independent of each other.

That is that about that. Now, to the issue of 2018 INEC Form CF001 and the 2022 Form EC9. The bottom line is that a person doesn’t need any certificate at all to be able to attain educational requirement for qualification to contest governorship election in Nigeria.

Anything, even if it is an attendance register which shows that he attended a secondary school or it’s equivalent is enough to qualify him academically.

The only thing that can make the forgery allegation fly is if Adeleke did not attend the School he claimed in his Forms. The truth of the matter is that Adeleke attended Ede Muslim Grammar School between 1976 and 1981 in the old Oyo State.

He applied for his testimonial in 2018, as at the time, the School has been renamed Ede Muslim High School, and it is no longer in Oyo State but now Osun State.

It will be impracticable and unreasonable to use anything relating to Oyo State while the School is now in Osun State, and its name has changed as at the date Adeleke applied for his testimonial.

He was taken up on this in several litigations both civil and criminal. He was vindicated. He was held and confirmed not to have forged, though he was cautioned of negligence for not going back to that school to correct the errors and mistakes in the Testimonial, the Court vindicated him that WAEC brought his statement of result and the spread sheet which confirmed that he sat for WAEC in 1981 at Ede Muslim Grammar School.

The School Principal also admitted that the errors in the testimonial were from him and not from Adeleke, and that the errors in the testimonial notwithstanding, Adeleke attended Ede Muslim Grammar School which has been renamed Ede Muslim High School.

If he now has a letter of attestation evidencing his studentship in the school as against the error-laden testimonial he got before, what is the fuss!

Without more, the fact of the exam body and the school principal giving evidence that Adeleke did not issue any of the alleged documents by himself but by the appropriate authorities, that has settled the whole issue.

Whether Ede Muslim Grammar School, whether Ede Muslim High School, irrespective of any error or mistake (if any) in the Testimonial or the Letter of attestation, the irresistible conclusion is that Adeleke is educated up to school certificate level and he is eminently qualified to stand for the election.

The Court of Appeal decision in RAHEEM.V. PDP (2019) LPELR in which Senator Ademola Adeleke was vindicated is instructive. In that case, the Court of Appeal Abuja refered to a previous decision of the Court of Appeal, Akure between Senator Ademola Adeleke .v. Kingsley Awosiyan & ors to come to the conclusion that the issue of Adeleke’s educational qualification has been settled in a judgement in rem which is binding against the whole world.

Therefore, under no guise can anyone re-open the issue of his academic qualification and forgery again.

I understand that the Petitioners are working to achieve a result with the decision of the Apex Court in Saleh. V. Abbah which held that the INEC Form is a certificate and any false information on same amounts to forgery and forged certificate, I dare say that the decision of the same Apex Court in Agi. V. PDP vindicates Adeleke which is to the effect that notwithstanding any inconsistency or incongruence in the information supplied by a candidate in his INEC forms, he can not be disqualified on account of that in so far he is found to have been ordinarily qualified to contest the election.

To make myself clearer, without the Letter of attestation and the Testimonial which the Petitioners have made an issue, the WAEC result and spread sheet evidencing Adeleke’s enrolment for WAEC in 1981 is solid evidence of his attaining education up to School Certificate Level.

In fact, a school receipt evidencing payment of school fees at secondary level without more is enough to qualify one for election in Nigeria as far as educational parameter for qualification is concerned.

The conclusion here is that, for whatever it is, Adeleke’s academic qualification is unquestionable, so there is nothing to fear. The mandate freely given to the son of Late Senator Raji Ayoola Adeleke by the Osun electorates has come to stay. I therefore say “KOSIGIRI”, that is ” No shaking.