Alleged Perjury: Zamfara Governor Faces Disqualification Threat

The case which was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja jurisdiction was transferred to the Federal High Court, Gusau and has been listed for mention on Tuesday 4 October, 2022. Documents provided by the group show at least three different dates submitted on three occasions as the birthdays of Mr Matawalle while academic records also bore similar contradictions.

The petitioners are, among others claiming that the documents that Mr Matawalle presented to INEC for the 2015 and 2019 elections regarding his secondary school qualifications and his date of birth were contradictory due to alleged falsification. The plaintiffs are arguing a case of perjury and non-possession of valid minimum secondary school certificate against the governor which if established would lead to his disqualification from the race.

The Constitution provides that the minimum educational qualification for anyone vying for the position of a state governor in Nigeria is secondary school certificate or its equivalent. It is required of governorship candidates and most other elective positions for party candidates to be educated to that level which would enable them to read and write and be able to sign documents.

In a statutory declaration of age filled by Bello Matawalle’s uncle, Alhaji Bala S. Kaya Maradun, it was attested that Bello Mohammed was born at Maradun in Maradun district in Zamfara State, on 12 February 1962. The document was duly signed and stamped by the High Court in Zamfara State on 11 May 2022.

Another document from the State Ministry of Education carries 29 February 1962 as the date of birth of the governor. Furthermore, Matawalle in an affidavit obtained from the High Court in Abuja, testified that his correct date of birth was 12 February 1962 and not February 12, 1969. Matawalle’s international passport carries passport number A50445292 issued on 6 July 2017 with an expiry date of 5 July 2022 carrying 12 February 1962 as his date of birth.

No less confusing are the certificates submitted to INEC by the governor. These include a technical certificate by the Ministry of Education, Sokoto State division of Science and Technical Education Vocational Training Centre, Bunza. It is clearly indicated in the result issued in 1985 that Mr Bello, with examination number 005, was born on 29 February 1962.

Another contradiction has to do with Matawalle’s date of birth as contained in the National Examination Council (NECO) result submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 election, as evidence of the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE). The claim in the certificate is that Bello Mohammed Matawalle with registration number 82806985CC sat for June/July 2018 NECO at Universal Academy, Kaduna with Centre number 0140300. His date of birth on the document is 28 February 1979. This date of birth in the NECO result does not tally with any of the others mentioned already.

Matawalle’s NECO documents also seem to suggest he wrote the 2018 NECO examination as a full-time student. NECO conducts two Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) in a year. First, the NECO June/July examination is usually called NECO Internal. This is the regular school candidates’ examination. Second, the NECO (GCE) November/December examination is usually called the NECO external. This is the private candidate’s examination. Surprisingly, Governor Matawalle submitted to INEC a certificate of the NECO internal, which requires a student to start schooling from SS1 to SS3. This implies that he wrote the examination with the regular SS3 students after going through the entire school sessions with them.