The West African Examination Council (WAEC) failed to present the 1978 certificate of the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, at the State Election Petition Tribunal on Thursday.
The tribunal, which is based in Abeokuta, the state capital, had requested the document.
The request was made following a challenge by People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Ladi Adebutu, to Governor Dapo Abiodun’s March 18 election victory.
Adebutu alleged that Abiodun forged his WAEC certificate.
In his petition, Adebutu claimed that Abiodun presented a falsified 1978 WAEC School Certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in July 2022.
Adebutu further mentioned that despite contacting WAEC to validate the certificate, no response had been received.
On Thursday, WAEC official, Olufemi Olaleye, appeared before the tribunal but didn’t have the disputed certificate.
Olaleye also couldn’t confirm whether Abiodun took the examination.
Olaleye, however, presented a copy of the subpoena issued to WAEC and told the tribunal that the council doesn’t keep duplicates of collected certificates.
To verify if someone has taken an examination, the original certificate would need to be sent to WAEC for verification.
When asked outside the court for further details about the certificate’s absence, Olaleye simply responded, “My lips are sealed.”