Salisu Buhari (born 3 January 1970) is a former Speaker of the

House of Representatives of Nigeria The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Nigeria's bicameral National Assembly. The Senate is the upper chamber. The House of Representatives has 360 members who are elected in single-member constituencies using the plurality (or ...

. In 1999, he resigned from office over allegations of certificate forgery. He was later convicted of certificate forgery and sentenced to two years in prison with an option of a fine. He paid the fine and was later pardoned by President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

Political career

Buhari had been a businessman before entering politics. In 1999, Buhari was appointed the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the fourth-highest office in Nigeria. However, this only lasted for six weeks before the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

scandal broke, ultimately leading to his resignation and prosecution. In 2013, he was chosen as part of the governing council of the

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Eastern part of Nigeria. Founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and formally opened on 7 October 1960, the University of Nigeria has thr ...

by the Nigerian government.

Controversies

The news of Buhari's age and certificate forgery first broke out on 16 February 1999 by an investigative news publication, ''TheNews'' magazine. Their investigation concluded that Buhari was born in 1970, not 1963 as he claimed, and also that he never graduated from the University of Toronto. The article claimed that Buhari not only never graduated, but never even attended the university. Claims about Buhari's age were especially relevant to his position as Speaker of the House, since section 65(1) of the Constitution of Nigeria disqualified anyone below the age of 30 from running for election to the House. Buhari had also claimed that he completed his National Youth Service at Standard Construction in Kano. This also proved untrue, as no record could be found of his completing the program. When Buhari was confronted with multiple allegations of fraud, he denied them as attacks on him and threatened to file a libel lawsuit against the publisher. He asserted that the allegations were a witch-hunt. The magazine, however, wrote to the University of Toronto, requesting confirmation that Buhari was an alumnus, who denied having any record of his attendance. On 23 July 1999, disgraced and cornered, Buhari admitted to falsifying his age and forging certificates as well as other allegations from the ''TheNews'' report, saying in a statement: He then resigned from House of Representatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buhari, Salisu Living people University of Nigeria people Speakers of the House of Representatives (Nigeria) Peoples Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives (Nigeria) 1970 births