By Zik Gbemre

With regards to reports that the University of Ibadan, Deputy Registrar, Legal, Mr. Abayomi Ajayi, recently confirmed to the Federal High Court in Abuja that it issued a Bachelor of Arts degree certificate to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State in 1979, but that the photocopy he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was incomplete, I believe there are issues and questions that are worth considering in this new development in the case, which can best be described as falsehood.

For one, how can a supposed Deputy Registrar, Legal, of the premier University in Nigeria, University of Ibadan (UI), Mr. Abayomi Ajayi, come forth to defend such enormous error? Also, how will an enlightened man like Godwin Obaseki and his informal Aide, photocopy his said certificate that will not show the signatures and dates on it? And then submit same to INEC, to participate in the Edo State Governorship race in September 2020? Is Obaseki and his Aide not aware that any official document without a signature and date is worthless? And also, why is it now that all of this is coming up? What had prevented Obaseki from showing his original certificate, or possibly photocopy the COMPLETE CERTIFICATE that will show the signatures and dates on it, and tender same to INEC and the Court as evidence?

I am aware of the fact that the usual Certificates of Degrees issued by any of the Nigerian Universities and other higher institutions in the country, are just the normal size of any degree certificate. What then is different in this case? Does it make sense for a supposed Deputy Registrar of a University, to defend a document that he termed as incomplete, and consider same as a legal document? I am simply baffled and amazed by all of this. And I find it rather appalling.

This shows how the entire country is polluted with criminals in the public offices. Officials that can be bought over, to fool themselves in Court, without any care or concern if their integrity is stained in the process. They are very willing to go to any extent to defend such foolishness, as far as they are given money. If the size of the supposed certificate document was more than the photocopied A4 size as he claimed, which affected the signatures and date from showing, why didn’t they adjust the paper size to show such important part of the said document? Why photocopy it like that and tender it as the legal copy?

Even a fool will know that all is not well with the controversies surrounding the Obaseki’s certificate forgery. I say Shame on Nigerian elites. What stopped the said University Deputy Registrar from tendering an original/duplicate copy of Obaseki’s Degree certificate in their records to the Court? Why come out to defend something that is termed incomplete? Where then is the complete certificate? All these happenings are some of the reasons what make the nation’s public officials and the elites, a laughing stock. What a shame!

Zik Gbemre.
January 6, 2021


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