By Ayodele Oni
Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has clarified that he went to one of the Secondary Schools in Lagos State which was affected by merging/closure policy of late former Governor Lateef Jakande’s administration which prompted allegation of certificate forgery against him.
He maintained that contrary to rumours of fake certificate making the rounds in some quarters, his certificate is genuine and authentic.
Aiyedatiwa disclosed this on Friday at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja after he was cleared by the Screening Committee to contest the primary election.
The governor, who insisted that there is no vacancy at the Ondo state government’s house, declared that “I have been cleared that there are no issues.
“Questions were asked and answered and at the end of the day, I have been cleared that there are no issues. Especially the issue that has to do with the certificate that a petition was written, today that has been put to rest.
“My certificates are genuine and authentic. I think it is just a kind of mischief by some other aspirants who find me to be an aspirant to beat, trying to look for a way to discredit my person, but that has been verified and put to rest.
“I think the issue really regarding that was a school they claim was established in 1980 and how come I was able to write my WASSCE in 1982.
“If you are a student of history you will recall that in 1979, when the Governor of Lagos State at the time, Lateef Jakande became Governor, most private schools were taken over and schools were built for the communities.
“And Ikosi High School that I attended is one of the schools that were built by the regime of Lateef Jakande in 1980. So, it is on record that the school was established in 1980 and at that time I was already in Form ‘3’ in a private school.
“New Nation is in Ikosi while Royal Comprehensive High School is in Ajegunle, Ikorodu very close to Ketu. So all of us were moved to both New Nation and Royal Comprehensive High School and some other schools that were affected by flood.
“We were all moved into Ikosi High School, Ketu that was built by the government and that was how we wrote our WASCE in 1982, because we were in the first set. I was in Form ‘3’ at the time, it used to be five years, not now that you have six years for Secondary school.
“So their question, the petitioner is how can a school be established in 1980 and we have a first set in 1982 that the first set was supposed to be in 1985, but he didn’t take time to look at the history.
“So investigation has been conducted, the schools are still there, WAEC office is there where you can actually verify the subject that I took and the year that I graduated and the school.
“You just need to buy a scratch card and go to the website of WAEC, it will be there – Ikosi High School, Ketu and my name will be there with the subjects that I took and the various grades. So it is clear to everybody that my certificate is authentic and I actually graduated from that school in 1982.”
Asked what his advice was for those trying to pull him down, Aiyedatiwa said there was no vacancy in the Ondo State government house.
“I should just advise them to repent and try to go to the field and work. If they are interested in the seat and the seat is not vacant, that is why they’re trying to do all that they are doing.”
