From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Authorities of Government Science College, Kaduna, and Kaduna Polytechnic where Senator Shehu Sani, ( APC Kaduna Central) obtained his secondary and higher educational qualifications respectively have confirmed that the lawmaker was their student at different times.
Sani, who is also a human rights activist, was accused of certificate forgery by a group under the auspices of Kaduna Central Peoples Forum, asking the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute him for the offence.
At a press conference in Kaduna last Wednesday, the group had accused the lawmaker of forging his secondary school certificate and lied on oath to INEC about his academic qualifications.
Reacting to the allegation, Senator Sani through his Special Adviser on Politics and Ideology, Suleiman Ahmed, accused Governor El-Rufai led government of being behind the allegation of certificate scandal.
He dismissed the allegations, saying, “Nigeria is not an animal kingdom where without possessing qualifications, you can keep on going to various stages of education”, pointing out that the senator has Higher National Diploma certificate in Soil and Water Engineering from Kaduna Polytechnic.
“If you look at Senator Shehu Sani and say that he did not complete his primary school, his secondary school or even go to higher institution, does that make sense to the common thinking of people?
“So, the issue of going to search where Shehu Sani has gone to school is an issue INEC can verify. Shehu Sani studied Agriculture, option of Soil and Water Engineering in Kaduna Polytechnic. He graduated in 1993 and he did his NYSC”.
Also, a former Head of Department (HOD) of Agricultural Engineering, Kaduna Polytechnic, Mr. Johnson Tsuzom who spoke in an interview said, “Shehu Sani attended Kaduna Polytechnic and I taught him in the Department of Agric Engineering. I still have the register of my various classes in the polytechnic and I know some of his classmates who are still in Kaduna here”.
“He completed his studies and was awarded a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Agric Engineering, with soil and water option; those who are throwing allegations of certificate forgery are doing so to smear his name”.
Tsuzom added, “He attended the institution and I can attest to it. When I became HOD in the department, I was the one that prepared his transcript that he used to further his studies overseas.”