Prince Dapo Abiodun, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State has eventually opened up on his certificate scandal.

In an interview with Channels Television, the Heyden Petroleum Limited boss confessed that he did not graduate from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife. He claimed that he has a degree in Accounting.

When asked by Channels TV’s presenter, Seun Okinbaloye if he got his degree from a Nigeria university or abroad, he said the matter was in court.

For those who don’t know, Dapo Abiodun declared only his West African School Certificate (1978) in the Form CF001 that he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on October 23, 2018, ahead of the 2019 general election.

However, when he ran as the APC senatorial candidate (Ogun East) in 2015, he claimed to have attended the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (graduating in 1986) and Kennesaw State University, Atlanta Georgia, US (1989) in his INEC form CF001, backed by an affidavit he swore to at the high court, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Curiously, while he listed B.B.A. (Hons.) Accounting as the degree he got in 1986 as at then, he was silent on what he studied at Kennesaw State University.

However, in his official curriculum vitae, he claimed to possess another degree, B.Eng (Hons) in Civil Engineering, presumably received in 1989 from the American university.

Also, on the website of Heyden Petroleum Limited where Abiodun is MD/CEO, underneath his name were listed B.Sc. Civil Engineering and BBA Accounting.

If he proceeded immediately to Kennesaw after graduating from Ife in 1986, he would not have finished before 1990 as Civil Engineering is a four-year course at the university.

There are strong suspicions that he did not do the compulsory National Youth Service, even though he finished his first degree in 1986 – going by the INEC form CF001 that he filled ahead of the 2015 election, supported by an affidavit.

Abiodun was born on May 29, 1960 and was 26 in 1986 when he claimed to have finished his first degree. The age limit for national service is 30.

Apart from the possibility of having committed perjury either in 2014 or 2018, there is also the possibility that he skipped the compulsory national service, which is punishable under the law.

Section 13 of the NYSC act states that: (1) Any person (b) who refuses to make himself available for service in the service corps continuously for the period specified in subsection (2) of this section, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N2,000 or to imprisonment for a term of twelve months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

A criminal conviction will also mean the offender is barred from holding public office.