CALLS FOR DISQUALIFICATION OF BOLA AHMED TINUBU BY INEC: THE CLEAR POSITION OF THE LAW

 

By Abdulwahab Dahiru Esq, ACArb.

 

Bola Adekunle Ahmed Tinubu is a Nigerian Politician and National leader of the All Progressives Congress. He has held various Government Positions including being the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007.

The former governor of Lagos State has emerged as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC for the 2023 presidential election on 6^th June 2023. This led to a series of calls for the disqualification of Tinubu over alleged discrepancies in his educational qualification submitted along with his presidential nomination form to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Photo credit Punchng.com

The crux of these calls led to the main question this article seeks to answer. Is Tinubu Qualified to run for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? The requirements for the qualification to run for the office of the President in Nigeria are provided for in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended) and the Electoral Act 2020. This article will therefore analyze the provisions of these instruments and seek to answer the question of the qualification of Bola Ahmed Tinubu to run for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Constitution provided for the mandatory requirement to contest for the Office of the President in section 131 where it provided that

131 . A person shall be qualified for election to the office of the president if;

                        (d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.

To make the requirement clearer the constitution in section 318 defines School Certificate or its equivalent to mean;

        I.            Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, or Grade II Teacher’s Certificate, the City and Guilds Certificate; or

      II.            education up to Secondary School Certificate level; or

    III.            Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent and –

    IV.            service in the public or private sector in the Federation in any capacity acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for a minimum of ten years, and

      V.            attendance at courses and training in such institutions as may be acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for periods totalling up to a minimum of one year, and

    VI.            the ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the English language to the satisfaction of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and

  VII.            any other qualification acceptable by the Independent National Electoral Commission;

 

In effect there are four pathways to educational qualification under the constitution which a candidate can choose under section 318, a candidate can choose any or all of the qualifications to rely upon. The A.P.C Presidential candidate in this case decided to rely on his Chicago State University Certificate without attaching copies of his educational qualifications which generated speculations that the APC flag-bearer could be hiding some details or was unsure of his credentials. 

It is worthy to note that the failure of a candidate to attach copies of educational qualifications will not harm his submission to INEC or disqualify a candidate in an election for the office of President, this was the decision of Court Appeal in ABUBAKAR & ANOR v. INEC & ORS while discountenancing the issue of non-submission of educational qualifications to INEC held –

 

"Attention will now be paid to the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended and the Electoral Act 2010 as amended on non qualification or disqualification of the 2nd Respondent to contest the February, 23, 2019 Presidential Election…    The fact that he did not attach his Certificates to the CV or Form CF001 cannot lead to conclusion that he did not obtain them or that he is not educated up to School Certificate level or its equivalent….’’

 

Given the foregoing, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is qualified under the law to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the laws discussed above since he had fulfilled all the constitutional requirements to contest the February 2023 presidential election.

 

REFERENCES

        I.            ABUBAKAR & ANOR v. INEC & ORS (2019) LPELR-48488(CA)

      II.            THE 1999 CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AS AMENDED