Dapo Abiodun Again ! governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun state, is enmeshed in allegations of perjury over his post-secondary school qualifications

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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, TheCable can report.

According to documents seen by TheCable, 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
(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.

Curiously, 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.

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^[1] 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.^[2]

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.

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^[3] 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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