Muritala Yakubu, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in Kogi State has been cleared of the forgery allegation made against him.
Yabuku had signified interest in running for the governorship position in the state a few weeks ago. In an attempt to confirm the authenticity of some of his credentials, Professor Hassan Isah, a member of the Kogi East Elders Forum, wrote to the Principal of Barewa College, Zaria, the school where the politician had his secondary education.
In response, the Principal of the college, Mr Alhassan Isyaku, told Isah that Yakubu was not a student of the institution. He said that Yakubu’s name the school was not in the admission register for 1996, the year he was supposedly admitted to the school. The register for candidates who took the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and class files were all checked, but Yakubu’s name was not found in any of the documents.
Yakubu was accused of forgery by the opposition and a call was made for a further investigation to find out if all his credentials were authentic. Suddenly, a few days after his initial statement, Isyaku turned around and apologised, saying there was a mix up in his previous response to the inquiry.
Addressing Chief Aduku, Chairman of the Kogi East Elders Forum, Barewa College issued a letter of apology, clarifying the oversight and providing additional information. In the letter, the principal said that another investigation was conducted after Yakuku was accused of forgery, just to ascertain the school’s original claims and it was discovered that Yakubu Murtala Ajaka, bearing registration number 14667, was a student of Barewa College between 1996 and 1998.
However, the school noted that the politician did not take the WASSC examination in 1998 at the college, which explained his absence from the 1998 WAEC gazette. Taking full responsibility for the mistake, the school assured the public that they were willing to provide further clarification, if necessary.
