A group under the aegis of Kaduna Central People’s Forum has called on the Senate to set up a probe panel to investigate Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central, over alleged certificate forgery and perjury.
Addressing a news conference in Kaduna on Wednesday, the group’s Chairman and Secretary, Malam Muhammad Y Edris and Alhaji Aminu Sha’aibu, also asked the Inspector General of Police, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation to investigate and prosecute Senator Sani, for the offence.
The group explained that they were determined to follow the rule of law in their bid to oust Sani, using certificates he submitted to INEC, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the defunct Congress For Progressives Change (CPC) in the nomination and affidavit forms for Kaduna Central Senatorial election in 2010/2011 and 2015 respectively.
According to them: “It is with the greatest sense of responsibility that we, the leadership and members of Kaduna Central Peoples Forum, chose to call this press conference to notify the public that we are submitting petitions to the President of the Senate, the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Inspector General of Police, the Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation seeking the immediate investigation and prosecution of Mr Shehu Sani, who currently parades himself as the Senator representing Kaduna Central in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
“Our call for his prosecution is premised on our detailed and incontrovertible finding that Shehu Sani lied on oath and misled the Independent National Electoral Commission, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and of course the good people of Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone by making false claims about his educational attainment and qualification and indeed going as far as forging documents to back up the false claims he made to INEC in the form he filled to contest the 2015 Senatorial election.”
The group explained further: “Our petition centres on the fact that as at the time the 2015 Senatorial election was conducted by INEC, Mr Shehu Sani was not qualified to vie for the position given that he lied on oath to the Commission about his academic qualification and falsified documents in his bid to sustain the lies and false claims in the nomination form and Affidavit he submitted to INEC”.
“Having carefully studied all the documents submitted to INEC by Mr Shehu Sani, we are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the authenticity of the entirety of his academic attainments that he submitted to INEC is not only suspect but also fraudulent. For starters, Shehu Sani claimed on oath, in his deposition to INEC, that he undertook his secondary school education between 1981 – 1984 at Government Science College, Kagara, under the Senior Secondary School (SSS) system.”
They added: “This claim is clearly false as 6-3-3-4 system of education was not in place in the country during the material period. What Nigeria had then was the 5-year secondary school system. Besides, even if it is to be conceded that the 6-3-3-4 policy was in place during that period, there is no indication of where Mr Shehu Sani completed his JSS and the period he did that?
“In the light of these stated facts, we are not sure which of the information is correct; but any discerning person can make out all too easily that if indeed Mr Shehu Sani was in Secondary school up to 1989 as indicated in his INEC affidavit of personal particulars, it would be impossible for him to at the same time attend Kaduna Polytechnic between 1984 – 1986 for his National Diploma (ND) in Water Engineering.”
“These inherent contradictions provoked further poser on the number of years Shehu Sani spent in the secondary school. Is it four years (1980 – 1984) as indicated in the APC nomination form or three years as indicated in the school Testimonial submitted to INEC or Nine Years as indicated in column 8(2) of INEC Affidavit he deposed to in support of personal particulars he submitted to the electoral commission. Now what is Shehu Sani’s defence on these discrepancies in his secondary school record?
“In the information he supplied in his own hand writing, under oath, in the Nomination/Affidavit Forms that he submitted to the APC, CPC and INEC and from the content of the Curriculum Vitae he attached, Mr Shehu Sani deposed to the fact that he lost the Primary School Certificate he obtained after the conclusion of his Primary School Education in 1980 and to that effect he swore to an Affidavit before a High Court of Justice in Kaduna State on the 24th of December 2010.
“He also claimed to have attended GSS Kagara from 1980 to 1984 for his three-year Senior Secondary School education (1981/82, 1982/83 and 1983/84). He however deliberately failed to state the reason(s) for his non-attendance of a Junior Secondary School (JSS), which clearly breaches the five years of secondary school or the 6-3-3-4 policies of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Again, Shehu Sani’s Secondary School Testimonial submitted to INEC is dated 27th April 2006. How come it took him 20 years to claim and collect his Testimonial.
“In the CV he attached to his Nomination and Affidavit Forms submitted to the APC and INEC for the purpose of the 2015 General Elections wherein he was elected a Senator, that he obtained a National Diploma (ND) from Kaduna Polytechnic but he neither stated the year nor attached a copy of the acclaimed National Diploma Certificate, as required of him under paragraph “C” at page 3 of the INEC Affidavit Form that reads: “Attach evidence of all educational qualifications.”
“Instead, he surreptitiously attached a copy of a different qualification, an Ordinary Certificate in Irrigation Engineering obtained in 1988, which he never cited in the same CV as part of his qualification. This is clearly at variance with the documents attached to his erstwhile CPC nomination and Affidavit Forms for the purpose of contesting the 2010/2011 Kaduna Central Senatorial Primary Elections, which is also in the custody of INEC. In this instance, Shehu Sani included a final year National Diploma Result Sheet obtained in 1988/89 with Registration Number CST/84/1791 dated 3/12/89 from the same Kaduna Polytechnic, that he also claimed awarded him the Ordinary Certificate in Irrigation Engineering during the same academic year (1988).”
“Even more intriguing is the fact that the Registration Number CST/84/1791 indicates that Shehu Sani was admitted to Kaduna Polytechnic in 1984 but no reason was given in any of his depositions to INEC or the APC, as to why it took him until 1988/89 Academic Year to round off the Diploma Course in Water Engineering, which he began in 1984. Of course we are all aware that the period of study for the National Diploma Certificate in Polytechnics in Nigeria span just two years. By 2015, Mr Shehu Sani was able to brandish and attach a copy of his acclaimed HND Certificate and the Ordinary Certificate in Irrigation Engineering to the Nomination/Affidavit Forms submitted to the APC and INEC but could not give explanation about the whereabouts of the said National Diploma Certificate in Irrigation Engineering that was obtained much earlier (1988/89). Let us even assume that this ND Certificate may be missing, at no time did Shehu Sani ever swore to an Affidavit to that effect, just like he did in the case of his missing Primary School Certificate.”
“Our investigations have also revealed that Mr Shehu Sani’s claim in his Nomination/Affidavit Forms to INEC and the APC that he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) from the Kaduna Polytechnic in 1993/94 academic year is very doubtful. At the time, Shehu claimed he obtained the HND certificate, the policy at the Kaduna Polytechnic was that for you to undertake the course of study and earn the Higher National Diploma, you must have obtained a National Diploma.”
“Shehu Sani could not have been admitted into the HND Programme without undergoing the National Diploma Programme. We are calling on the Inspector General of Police and the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to investigate this matter just the way it investigated the certificates of another Senator, Dino Malaye.”
“Even more curious is the fact that Shehu Sani did not undergo the compulsory NYSC until July 2011 to July 2012, which is a clear 17 years after he was obliged by law to submit himself for national service. By virtue of the Certificate of National Service submitted to INEC, Shehu Sani only submitted himself for national service at the age of 43 years which is about 15 years beyond the statutory limit of under 30 years eligibility for service in the scheme. By virtue of section 2(1)(c) of the National Youth Service Act, LFN Cap. N84, the Senator was under a compulsory legal obligation to have submitted himself for national service in 1994 when he purportedly obtained his HND from Kaduna Polytechnic unless of course his call-up was deferred with the approval of the National Defence and Security Council in accordance with the provisions of sections 17 (1-3) of the NYSC Act (Supra),” the group alleged.
Reacting, Senator Shehu Sani’s Special Adviser on Politics and Ideology, Suleiman Ahmed, while dismissing the allegations, said there is clause in the NYSC law that makes it optional for people to serve after the age of 30.
Sani’s aide explained: “Nigeria is not an animal kingdom where without possessing qualifications, you can keep on going to various stages of education; it is not just possible, if you look at Senator Shehu Sani and say that he did not complete his primary school, his secondary school or even go to higher institution. Does that make sense to a common thinking of people?
“So, the issue of going to search where Shehu Sani has gone to school, that is an issue that if INEC is not satisfied should be able to go and make verification on.
“Shehu Sani studied Agriculture, option of Soil and Water Engineering in Kaduna Polytechnic. He graduated in 1993 and he did his NYSC service after he finished serving his jail term.”
On the allegation that the Senator did his NYSC at the age of 43, Ahmed said: “yes he decided, because when he graduated, before he went for service, he was arrested and was sentenced to life imprisonment. After serving the period he served in the prison, he was released from the prison and he decided by himself, saying that he has finished his school so, so time, that is within the age limit for him to serve.”
“Service is optional after you are 30 years of age, there are people who served at the age of 50 years in this country. There is clause in the NYSC law that makes it optional for people to serve after the age of 30. Yes, you can collect exemption letter, but if you want, you can serve, there are people in this country who served at the age of 50 it is there, but you can collect exemption letter if you want,” Sani aide said.