Senator Akume, had accused Governor Ortom, of parading what he called a fake university PhD certificate. Senator Akume who represents Benue North West senatorial district at the Red chamber of the National Assembly had levelled the accusation while addressing an expanded caucus meeting of the All Progressives Congress at Castle Event Center in Makurdi. He said the PhD Governor Ortom is parading was from non-existing university, Commonwealth University, Berlin. Akume said, “Ortom said he has PhD from Commonwealth University, Berlin, but there is nothing like Commonwealth University” and boasted that “at least I am a graduate of University of Ibadan where I bagged my first and second degrees”. But in a swift reaction to the erstwhile Senate Minority Leader’s invective, Governor Ortom described the allegation as” frivolous” and challenged the Senator to campaign on issues that would save his party, the All Progressives Congress during next year’s general elections and leave him alone. “Ortom should not be the manifesto of APC, they should be concerned about what they can do to the people of the state if they get power in 2019”. “The issue of certificate is frivolous, as far as we are concerned the laws of Nigeria have spelt out in clear terms about the qualification a person must have before he or she is elected as governor. It says, once you have a school certificate you are qualified to be governor and I have a school certificate, a Diploma, an Advanced Diploma, a Masters Degree and a PhD. So what is it about certificate, do certificates perform in office”. Governor Ortom who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Terver Akase, regretted why the Senator has so much interest in his academic qualifications when he (Akume) is not an accrediting institution and has no power to accredit anyone or even vet certificates of people. “The Senator is not an accrediting institution and has no power to accredit anyone or even vet certificates of people. By the way, to become a Governor you do not need a PhD, the laws of this country does not specify that one must have a PhD to become governor”. “So the Senator appears to be chasing shadows he was talking about the Commonwealth University of Berlin, there is nothing like that and the governor does not said he graduated from Commonwealth University of Berlin. The Senator did not know what he was talking about and that’s unfortunate”. “Remember that he too had a case of certificate. One Mr. Dan Agbese took him to court over issues bothering on his certificates, and I think that shouldn’t be the issue now as we move into 2019 elections”. Governor Ortom challenged Akume to cogently embark on issue-based campaign to convince people of the state to vote for the APC on which platform he was also seeking to return to the Senate for the fourth time. On the Senators utterances that he would ensure the governor is impeached by the eight members of the Assembly within six months, Governor Ortom he is not bothered and won’t be distracted by illegality. He noted that the power to impeach require constitutional process, stressing that those making such moves were making a wild goose chase.]]>

"Exciting news! TheNigeriaLawyer is now on WhatsApp Channels 🚀 Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest legal insights!" Click here! ....................................................................................................................... Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material and other digital content on this website, in whole or in part, without express and written permission from TheNigeriaLawyer, is strictly prohibited _________________________________________________________________ [Register Now] ILA Nigeria Branch Marks 10 Years With Infrastructure Financing As Theme For 7th Annual Conference The International Law Association - Nigeria Branch 7th annual conference on public-private partnerships for sustainable infrastructure financing, April 4-5 in Abuja. Details: https://ilanigeria.org.ng/conference _________________________________________________________________

NIALS' Compendia Series: Your One-Stop Solution For Navigating Nigerian Laws (2004-2023)

Email: info@nials.edu.ng, tugomak@yahoo.co.uk, Contact: For Inquiry and information, kindly contact, NIALS Director of Marketing: +2348074128732, +2348100363602.