The
governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State, Godwin
Obaseki, on Wednesday said that he has found the original copies of his
academic credentials, which had earlier been declared missing in a sworn
affidavit.
Obaseki
had, in the said affidavit submitted to the Independent National Electoral
Commission for the September 10 election, reportedly stated that his academic
documents got missing while he was moving his office from one place to another.
The
development had on Monday attracted criticisms from the opposition Peoples
Democratic Party, which described his reasons for not being in possession of
the certificates as “flimsy” and “unconvincing.”
However,
Obaseki, who spoke during an interactive session organised by civil societies
for governorship candidates in Benin, noted that though he had no reason to
search for the documents, he had to provide the photocopies and swear to an
affidavit for the election.
He
explained, “I have found them. The truth is that I have not had any reason to
look for them in the last 25 years. I know that I kept them somewhere in a safe
box and I had photocopies.
“When
I needed them for the exercise, I could not find them. So, I swore to an
affidavit that I cannot find the originals.
He
said that the photocopies of the documents were certified by the issuing
institutions.
Obaseki
added, “I took the photocopies to the institutions that issued them and they
certified the photocopies.
“So
when the whole controversy started raging, my cousin called me from New York
and said, ‘But your originals are here. I said, ‘Please, send them to me now.”
The
APC candidate also reiterated that his administration would provide security
and manpower necessary to attract investors.
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Politics