Gov. Suswam was recently alleged to have forged certificates. The number one citizen of Benue State denied this allegation in this interview.

Recently a magazine published for the second time alleged forgery of academic certificates by you. Why is this still lingering?

The people who are behind this shameful and criminal act know why they are doing it. They only want to assassinate my character. All my certificates are verifiable. All the institutions gave me admission based on my results. Along the line, I lost my results to robbers. When I applied for admission, the university needed to see the original of my credentials before they could give me the admission. I gave my SA all my certificates. It was not only me; the former Minister of Niger Delta Ministry also applied for admission. Two of us gave him our certificates to take to the university. Armed robbers took his vehicles along with all the certificates. I quickly applied to all the institutions I attended –University of Lagos, Law school, WAEC. Of course, my certificate from Harvard lost totally; there was no way I could apply for that one. I made a police report and applied with it. Nigerian Law School told me that they don’t reissue certificates but they gave me a statement “To whom it may concern”.

Luckily, I had photocopies of all my certificates which I sent to University of Jos for another programme I also applied for. That is, Masters in Law. University of Lagos replied and reissued me a statement which indicated that I lost my certificate. As I said earlier, Nigerian law school did the same. In Law school, you have two certificates that you are given. Two months after I had applied, WAEC sent me a result. I have never used that result because I am purely an Arts student but the results they sent to me were science. Because I didn’t need that WAEC certificate that much, I didn’t bother myself much about the results which I rejected. I never made any reference to it.

I contested in 2007 for governorship, there was no issue. In 2010 when I was getting ready to re-contest for the office, that is my second term, a magazine known as Power Steering had as its headline ‘Suswam, a fake lawyer’. I thought it was a joke. Somebody brought the magazine to me and I read a claim by one Chidoke that he forged a certificate for me and that I refused to pay him. I made a report to the IGP. Because the boy was asking for money, police pretended that they lodged a money in the bank for him and asked him to go and cash it. They were able to arrest him through that means. The publisher of the magazine was also arrested. We commenced the case on that. They had their usual tactics and ensured that the case was delayed in the court.

They claimed they discussed something with the magistrate , they accused him of all manner of things. They established that they had a communication with the magistrate which they recorded. Thank God they were fighting within themselves. They presented the magistrate as someone they claimed was taking money from me. The court decided to move the woman and transfer the case to High court. We have not commenced the case at the High Court.

They are claiming that I don’t have WAEC certificate. I have all my certificates and I would like the public to see and know who is telling lies. I know that somebody somewhere could not destroy me in Benue. He wants to tarnish my national image by presenting me as a fake person.

I finished my secondary school at Government College Makurdi, I attended SBS, University of Lagos and read law at the same institution. I didn’t go to community university. There is no way I would have forged a certificate with which I was admitted into University of Lagos to read Law. This cannot happen. Forgery of certificate was not even common at the time I attended university.

In my form four in secondary school, I wrote and passed my GCE. While I may not boast of being an intellectual, I have always known that I am brilliant. I passed my GCE before my year of graduation from secondary school. If I wanted, I would have left for university after my form four. I have my WAEC certificate which I had after my secondary school.

The aim of these lies is just to tarnish my image. They could not remove me as governor, now they want to tarnish my image. I want the public to see my results and know who’s telling the truth and who is lying. I am going to court; I have already briefed my lawyers. This is criminal defamation. They have taken me to the public court, I must prove my innocence.

Are there some of your classmates who are ready to testify to your claim?

I don’t need any classmate to come and testify for me, I have my certificates. What do I need classmates for?

It is when you are in doubt of your academic claims that you begin to look for someone to come and make case for you. I have all my certificates with me, the schools I attended are credible. None of these people making these allegations has gone to Government College Makurdi to ask for my results. The school even pasted the result on the board; anybody who visits the school can see it.

We sat for WAEC in 1982; the year I was admitted into University of Lagos and the year I graduated is there. If you go either the Law School or the Supreme Court, you will see the year I was called to the bar. This is a case of character assassination. All my certificates bear the same name. I have many secondary school mates; they are all over the country.

Did you write WAEC after you had rejected the wrong results sent to you?

No I didn’t, I ignored it. I didn’t touch the result. These people making this allegation went to INEC asking for the results I used to contest elections. They didn’t know that nobody puts certificates in INEC’s files. The electoral body only sights the credentials and gives them back to the owners.

We have told them that they can ask INEC to appear in court and present my results. Since the case started in courts- from Federal High Court to Appeal court, nobody has produced the fake results which they claim I have. The people who contested with me have been making the claims, but they have not been able to produce the so-called fake result.

The court asked them to produce it so that WAEC will publish its own, but none has produced it. I don’t know where the person who has been publishing some certificates in his magazine got them. They don’t want to get tired even when they have failed in their lives.

Why do you think some people are still after you when you are constitutionally on your last term? Has it got anything to do with your successor?

No, they just want to tarnish my image. They want to reduce me in the eyes of Nigerians, nothing more than that. I contested elections in 1999, 2003 and 2007. It was in 2010 that all this nonsense came up. Back home in Benue, they have failed. If they didn’t succeed in moving me out and I am set to go to the senate, they want to do everything to stop me. Only God can stop me, no man can stop me.

Are you not suspecting those who are nursing similar senatorial ambition of being behind the renewed campaign against you?

This allegation first came from opponents in APC. In fact, the lawyers who were defending the APC opponents at the Supreme Court are the same lawyers defending the people pursing the case now. So, I think it is still coming from the same group of persons.

Are you saying that within PDP you have no rivals?

If any person is contesting, he is free to do so. I have no problem with that. We have somebody who is a senator now and who obviously would wants to re-contest I have created a level playing field. I am not muzzling anybody. In other places, governors are muzzling those who want to contest with them. I am not doing that, I’m not even exchanging words with anybody.

– Courtesy: The Sun