The Nigerian Army yesterday declared that “neither the original copy, certified true copy (CTC) nor statement of result of Major General M. Buhari’s WASC result is in his personal file”.
The outgoing director of army public relations Brigadier General Olajide Laleye, who disclosed this at a news briefing in Abuja said the letter of recommendation by the then principal of provincial secondary school katsina in 1961 was in the file.
The Principal’s recommendation letter reads “I recommend Muhammadu Buhari for military commission and that he considers that he will pass his school certificate in maths, English and three other subjects” the principal signed without the names appearing on the letter.
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Consequently records available indicated “that Major General M. Buhari applied to join the military as a form six students of the provincial secondary school, Katsina on 18 Oct, 1961. His application was duly endorsed by the principal of the school, who also wrote a report on him and recommend him to be suitable for military commission”.
He said that it is a practice in the Nigerian army that before candidates are shortlisted for commissioning into the officers’ cadre of the service, the selection board verifies the original copies of credentials that are presented. However, there is no available record to show that this process was followed in the 1960s.
Brigadier-General Laleye however said the entry made on the Nigerian Army form 199A at the point of documentation after commission as an officer indicated that General Muhammadu Buhari obtained the West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1961 with credits in relevant subjects.
He said that the entry on Nigerian Army form 199A which he displayed also indicated that the former head of state indicated that he obtained credits in English language, geography, history, health science, Hausa and a pass in English literature.
The director of army public relations noted that the Nigerian army holds the retired senior officer in very high esteem and respect and would not be a party to any controversy surrounding his eligibility for any political office.
Suffice to state, that major general Buhari rose steadily to the enviable rank of Major general before becoming the head of state of our dear country in December 1983.
Olajide said that the media hype on retired major general muhammadu buhari’s credentials as well as the numerous requests made by individuals and corporate bodies to the Nigerian army on this issue have necessitated that they provide the facts as contained in the retired senior officer’s service record.
“I hope this explanation will put to rest the raging controversy surrounding the secondary school credentials of Major General Mohammed Buhari as it affects the Nigerian Army”.
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