The lawyer is urging the court to declare that the sworn affidavit which Buhari submitted to INEC, stating that his certificate was in the custody of the Nigerian Army, was not enough.
Okhai is praying the court to declare Buhari’s sworn affidavit null and void, contending that “it could not stand as a substitute to President Buhari’s certificate or take the place of the evidence of President Buhari’s educational qualification as a requirement and condition precedent in INEC Form CF001.”
The lawyer wants the court to restrain INEC, which was joined in the suit as the second defendant, from allowing Buhari to contest in the election, having allegedly failed to meet the relevant requirements of the Electoral Act.
He is seeking a declaration that by the combined provisions of sections 31(1), 2 and 5 of the Electoral Act, Cap 15, 2010, Buhari, having failed to attach his secondary school certificate to the forms he submitted to INEC, was bound to be disqualified from the presidential race.
In an affidavit personally deposed to by himself, the lawyer said he recalled that Buhari made the same claim in 2014, while seeking to be elected as President, that his certificate was in the custody of the Secretary of the Military Board.
