Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District has been accused of certificate forgery by the Kaduna Central Peoples Forum KCPF). The Chairman of the group, Mallam Muhammad Y. Idris and the Secretary, Alhaji Aminu Sha’aibu revealed that:
“Our call for his prosecution is premised on our detailed and incontrovertible findings that Shehu Sani lied on oath and misled the Independent National Electoral Commission, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and of course the good people of Kaduna Central senatorial zone by making false claims about his educational attainment and qualification and indeed going as far as forging documents to back up the false claims he made to INEC in the form he filled to contest the 2015 senatorial election.”
“After months of thorough investigation, we have deemed it important to make public our findings. Having carefully studied all the documents submitted to INEC by Sani, we are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the authenticity of the entirety of his academic attainments that he submitted to INEC is not only suspect but also fraudulent.”
“For starters, Sani claimed on oath, in his deposition to INEC, that he undertook his secondary school education between 1981 to 1984 at Government Science College, Kagara, under the Senior Secondary School (SSS) system. This claim is clearly false as 6-3-3-4 system of education was not in place in the country during the material period. What Nigeria had then was the five-year secondary school system. Besides, even if it is to be conceded that the 6-3-3-4 policy was in place during that period, there is no indication of where Sani completed his JSS and the period he did that.”
“The puzzle as to when Sani enrolled for his secondary school education is further highlighted by the discrepancies in his APC nomination form and his Government Science College, Kagara, Testimonial submitted to INEC. While Sani indicated that he attended Government Science College, Kagara between 1980 to 1984 in the APC nomination form, the testimonial supposedly issued by the school on the other hand, showed glaringly that Shehu Sani attended the school between 1981 to 1984.”
“In the light of these stated facts, we are not sure which of the information is correct; but any discerning person can make out all too easily that if indeed Sani was in Secondary school up to 1989 as indicated in his INEC affidavit of personal particulars, it would be impossible for him to at the same time attend Kaduna Polytechnic between 1984 to 1986 for his National Diploma (ND) in Water Engineering. These inherent contradictions provoked further poser on the number of years Shehu Sani spent in the secondary school. Is it four years (1980 – 1984) as indicated in the APC nomination form or three years as indicated in the school testimonial submitted to INEC or nine years as indicated in column 8(2) of INEC Affidavit he deposed to in support of personal particulars he submitted to the electoral commission.”
“Even more intriguing is the fact that the Registration Number CST/84/1791 indicates that Shehu Sani was admitted to Kaduna Polytechnic in 1984 but no reason was given in any of his depositions to INEC or the APC, as to why it took him until 1988/89 Academic Year to round off the Diploma Course in Water Engineering, which he began in 1984. By virtue of the Certificate of National Service submitted to INEC, Shehu Sani only submitted himself for national service at the age of 43 years which is about 15 years beyond the statutory limit of under 30 years eligibility for service in the scheme.”
“By virtue of section 2(1)(c) of the National Youth Service Act, LFN Cap. N84, the senator was under a compulsory legal obligation to have submitted himself for national service in 1994 when he purportedly obtained his HND from Kaduna Polytechnic unless of course his call-up was deferred with the approval of the National Defence and Security Council in accordance with the provisions of sections 17(1-3) of the NYSC Act (Supra).”