The Nigerian Army denied being in custody of the original credentials of the Presidential Candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC),Muhammmed Buhari.
The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Brig-Gen. Olajide Laleye, said that the Army is in possession of photocopies of Buhari’s certificates like those of any other officers, serving or retired.
In a poser to Buhari to re-affirm the Army positio, alleys asked, “If indeed the Army is in possession of those certificates, why has he (Buhari) not demanded for them since 2003 he forayed into presidential elections and had other shots at the presidency in 2007 and 2011 respectively?”
The Army spokesman wondered why this should be an issue now when the same candidate had contested three times for the presidency and must have presented some sort of credentials to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Laleye, in response to inquiries on Saturday, said that the Military Secretary (MS) has the copies of the credentials, with the original in possession of the individual officers.
According to a report in This Day, the Army spokesman said that that even the copies domiciled with the MS are accessible to their owners within 24 hours.
“The Military Secretary is the custodian of the military records of all officers serving, retired or deceased. Therefore original credentials are with the officer while copies are with the MS. Gaining access to one’s credentials in the MS is possible within 24 hours”, he said.
