Lawyer Withdraws Buhari’s “No WASC Certificate” Suit

The suit seeking the disqualification of President Muhammadu Buhari from the 2015 Presidential Election, alleging that he did not possess the requisite education qualification has been withdrawn.

THISDAY reports that the Abuja-based lawyer, Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaiwe, who filed the suit withdrew it in a notice of discontinuance dated June 27. It read:

“Take note that the plaintiff in this originating summons, Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe, hereby discontinues this action.”

Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe had alleged that Buhari did not sit for the Cambridge West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1961 as he claimed.

Buhari was represented by 13 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by Wole Olanipekun.

Other lawyers on the president’s team were Femi Falana, Charles Edosomwan,  Akin Olujinmi, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Kola Awodein, H.O. Afolabi, Taiwo Osipitan, Lateef Fagbemi,  Emeka Ngige, Femi Atoyebi, Funke Aboyade, and Muiz Banire.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja consequently struck out the case following the notice of discontinuance filed by the plaintiff.

In an interview with THISDAY last month, Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe had said that there were some subtle threats on him concerning the case.

“Of course, I am concerned and my family and friends are too; I am not naïve and some subtle threats have already been made. For now it is small comfort that if anything happens to me, even if disguised as an accident or anything, Nigerians will know exactly who is responsible.

In any case, it was Professor Wole Soyinka, I think, who once said in one of his books that ‘The Man Dies in Him Who Keeps Quiet in The Face of Tyranny’ or something of the sort. Speaking of which, I am amazed at the conspiracy of silence by Nigerians. It is astounding is it not, that in the light of this very apparent rape of our constitution, laws, indeed the very essence of our democracy, all of our civil society advocates and activists have gone deaf and dumb in the face of tyranny.

All those voluble persons (and I don’t want to name them; they know themselves and Nigerians know them too), who pretend they are activists or keepers of the moral conscience of the nation astonishingly can’t see or appreciate what is happening. This country really misses Gani Fawehinmi; he was the only fearless, credible, true and genuine conscience of the nation, not the pretenders we have today; all the others only make noise when it suits them and their interests but look the other way once they are compromised. None of us today, can tie Gani’s shoe-laces,” he said.