Nigeria is not new to scandals of duplicity and fakery and, much of it has been around age falsification or name confusion or even certificate forgery. The first Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives in 1999, Salisu Buhari, was fired for presenting a fake Toronto degree. Many others have gone down that same road.
It will appear the latest politically exposed joker to try his luck is the Zamfara state PDP gubernatorial candidate, Dauda Lawal Dare or is it Muhammad Dauda Lawal or even Ado Dauda? Well, since the Dauda name seems the more constant in this long zigzag pattern of identity, I will stick with it. Now, Lawal Dare was re-elected PDP flagbearer in September after a Federal High Court nullified the previous primary.
This is where it all began. In a mind boggling revelation by the famous online media, Sahara Reporters, where in the documents Lawal presented to get him elected, he claimed his hometown is Gusau, Zamfara state. But, in what can only be described as abracadabra, Dare also presented to INEC, certificates indicating he is from Guga, a village in Katsina state. The only explanation, and this will be pushing the boundaries of outrageousness, is to conclude that Lawal Dare was born in either 1963 or 1964 or even 1965 as his profile reads, was from Guga of Katsina state before Zamfara state was created in 1996. That would still leave the question of how Guga became Zamfara.
Well, if you think above points are ridiculous, then the next outrageous stop in this ridiculous rollercoaster journey through the identity of one man will interest you. In the primary school certificate presented by Lawal to INEC, his name was ADO DAUDA. ADO DAUDA became ADO DAUDA LAWAL in his secondary school certificate.
The next in this mazy run of confusion is the university and NYSC certificates which had him bearing DAUDA LAWAL. How one individual can lay claim to so many names still intrigues me and hard as I have tried to find a pattern or some clue with which to cut through that bizarreness, I kept coming up short.
What we are seeing is Bayelsa state all over again or even worse. The election of David Lyon and Degi Eremienyo was annulled for exactly what we are seeing with Lawal’s puzzling names. For instance, Eremienyo’s primary certificate carried Degi Biobara, then secondary school brought Adegi Biobarakumo. Degi returned to his university certificate to join Biobarakumo, then MBA had Degi Biobarakumo Wangaha. Confusing as this may be, it has a certain pattern compared to Lawal’s.
Yet, that’s not even the end of it. It has emerged that Lawal Dare also went to the Supreme Court to swear an affidavit that he was born on the 2nd day of September 1965 while the primary certificate presented to INEC bears 2nd September 1964. Also on the affidavit, he swore with another different name; DAUDA MOHAMMED LAWAL which differs from his certificates. There just might be a chance that we are dealing with a different person entirely because, checks have revealed that none of the certificates Lawal presented to INEC bears the name he declared before the Supreme Court.
Many Nigerian politicians that have gone down in such scandals were done in perhaps by certificate forgery alone. But, it will appear Lawal is out to break that record. This is because, Dauda Lawal’s place of birth is in question, date of birth, primary certificate, secondary certificate and Supreme Court affidavit have all seemingly come short and are completely tainted by doubts and the pungent smell of alleged lies and forgery.
From all the names we have seen so far, Dauda Lawal, the PDP gubernatorial candidate, appears to be using the certificates of three different individuals. The audacity of people like Lawal can’t stop to amaze me. But, should it be amusing? How can a man set to out to insult all of our sensibilities by planning such a cheap heist?
Is this the best the PDP in Zamfara state can come up with? I can bet that Lawal doesn’t even know his name or what he’s all about. And this gives credence to the Africanism that any man who doesn’t know where he comes from certainly won’t know where he’s going. Dauda Lawal Dare or Ado, Muhammad or whatever that man’s name is, is in the rain and he doesn’t know where it caught him. And with his head deeply buried in scandal, it will be a while before he realises he has been a placeholder all this while, but for whom?
This is the man who defied a valid order in Zamfara state leading to the death of many. The same man who is yet to account for the blood on his hands; the swashbuckling tough talker who only spews bile when he opens his mouth. It’s disturbing that this man has been hiding in plain sight all this while. How the man was able to lie his way into the banking sector with such questionable qualifications beats me.
Anyway, it’s better late than never. Lawal and his handlers will have to do a great deal of explaining and convincing, while the court must take a closer look at the man’s propriety and honour. The people must demand to know his name first at least, before other issues of education and other obviousness are challenged. For Lawal, this is where his erstwhile shiny career in the bank comes crashing. It will seem everything has been built on a well packaged lie.
Ahmed writes from Abuja
