Dapo Abiodun, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) in Ogun state, is enmeshed in allegations of perjury over his
post-secondary school qualifications.
According to documents
seen, Abiodun declared only his West African School Certificate (1978)
in the Form CF001 that he submitted to the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) on October 23, 2018, ahead of the 2019
general election.
However, when he ran as the APC senatorial
candidate (Ogun east) in 2015, he claimed to have attended the
University of Ife, Ile-Ife (1986) and Kennesaw State University, Atlanta
Georgia, US (1989) in his INEC form CF001, backed by an affidavit he
swore to at the high court, Abeokuta, Ogun state.
Curiously,
while he listed B.B.A. (hons) accounting as the degree he got in 1986 as
at then 2015, he was silent on what he studied at Kennesaw State
University.
However, in his official curriculum vitae, he claimed
to possess another degree, B.Eng (hons) in civil engineering,
presumably received in 1989 from the American university.
Also,
on the website of Heyden Petroleum Limited where Abiodun is MD/CEO,
underneath his name were listed B.Sc Civil Engineering and BBA
Accounting.
If he proceeded immediately to Kennesaw after
graduating from Ife in 1986, he would not have finished before 1990 as
civil engineering is a four-year course in the university.
There
are strong suspicions that he did not do the compulsory national youth
service, even though he finished his first degree in 1986 — going by the
INEC form CF001 he filled head of the 2015 election, supported by an
affidavit.
Abiodun was born on May 29, 1960 and was 26 in 1986
when he claimed to have finished his first degree. The age limit for
national service is 30.
Apart from the possibility of having
committed perjury either in 2014 or 2018, there is also the possibility
that he skipped the compulsory national service, which is punishable
under the law.
SECTION 13 OF THE NYSC ACT STATES:
(1)Any
person (b) who refuses to make himself available for service in the
service corps continuously for the period specified in subsection (2) of
this section, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a
fine of N2,000 or to imprisonment for a term of twelve months or to both
such fine and imprisonment.
A criminal conviction will also mean the offender is barred from holding public office.
SECTION 182 OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION STATES:
182.
(1) No person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor
of a State if – (e) within a period of less than ten years before the
date of election to the office of Governor of a State he has been
convicted and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has
been found guilty of the contravention of the code of Conduct.
Earlier this year, he was appointed chairman of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2012, he was appointed chairman of the Depot and Petroleum Product Marketers Association (DAPPMA), a position he still holds.
Abiodun
has been having a running battle with Ibikunle Amosun, governor of the
state, and the state working committee of the APC over his endorsement
by the national body of the party for the 2019 governorship election,
instead of Adekunle Akinlade, the governor’s choice.
The APC
candidate had accused Amosun of plotting to upturn the decision of
national working committee (NWC) of the ruling party to recognise him as
the guber candidate of the state, while accusing the governor of being
“desperate to install” Akinlade at all cost.
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