I’ve found my missing certificates, says Obaseki

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.