Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun state, Dapo Abiodun is facing a great challenge to his political career following revelations that he lied about his educational qualifications.
In an exclusive story by an online news platform, Abiodun was said to have perjured himself over his post-secondary school qualifications.
He is said to have 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.
According to the online media platform, when Abiodun ran as the APC senatorial candidate (Ogun east) in 2015, he claimed to have attended the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (graduating in 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.
However, while he listed B.B.A. (hons) accounting as the degree he got in 1986 as at then, he was silent on what he studied at Kennesaw State University.
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 at 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 that he filled ahead 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.
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.