A retired army general, Mohammed Sani Saleh, yesterday dismissed the controversy over the certificate of President Muhammadu Buhari as needless.
He said there was no way the president could have been enlisted into the military training school by the British officers at the helms of the military command if he did not have the necessary qualifications.
Saleh, who spoke to our correspondent in Kaduna, said Buhari was admitted into the military training school at a time Nigeria was yet to become a Republic and the military was still controlled by the British soldiers.
Saleh, who won the Kaduna Central senatorial election in 2011, said Buhari did not even train in Nigeria and would not have been recruited if there were doubts over his qualification.
He said: “At that time the Nigeria army was a select and elite organization, we had very few army officers at that time, I don’t think the whole Nigeria army officers were up to 50; you can imagine what it takes for you as Nigerian to be one of those, and today somebody would be accusing you that you don’t have a certificate.”
Saleh said from his experience as a retired general who went into politics, only political parties have the power to screen and disqualify candidates, stressing that the INEC has no powers to do so.
He said to join the army, one of the qualifications is the WAEC certificate, adding that the admission process into Nigerian army is very strict.
“I worked at the Nigerian Defence Academy for six years; so, I know the processes, you cannot get into the Nigerian Defence Academy with a forged certificate, it is impossible,” he said.
