2019: Buhari to INEC: My academic credentials with military

President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to submit his academic credentials to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of his bid to seek re-election in 2019.

Mr Buhari, a retired major general, instead told the electoral body that his credentials are still with the military, Punch newspaper reports.

INEC on Thursday pasted names of 70 out of 91 political parties fielding candidates for presidential elections in 2019, including Mr Buhari.

The commission is expected to publish a full list of candidates of political parties today.

A list of candidates made available to journalists on Thursday indicate that Mr Buhari failed to attach necessary documents as requirement for his re-election bid.

Instead, he insisted the documents are in custody of the military.

He attached an affidavit to support his claim.

“I am the above named person and the deponent of this affidavit herein. All my academic qualification documents as filled in my Presidential form, APC/001/2015 are currently with the Secretary of the Military Board as of the time of this affidavit,” the affidavit reads.

Meanwhile, the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku submitted relevant documents, with a Diploma in Law in 1969 from the Ahmadu Bello University being his highest qualification.

The former vice-president also attached tax returns indicating that he had paid N10.8m in tax from 2015 to 2017 while declaring his income within the period as N60.2m.

Mr Atiku is Mr Buhari’s major contender in the forthcoming election.