Senator Adeleke dismisses criticism of his academic record saying he attended US university

SENATOR Ademola Adeleke has dismissed recent criticism of his academic records revealing that he gained admission into the university in the US without presenting his West African School Certificate Examination result.

Earlier this week, Senator Adeleke was cleared by the Osun State High Court to stand in next month's gubernatorial elections after it dismissed a suit challenging his suitability filed by two rivals who stood against him in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries. Two of his opponents Rasheed Olabayo and Idowu Oluwaseun, had filed a suit asking the court to restrain Senator Adeleke from being presented as the governorship candidate of the party because he did not have the basic educational qualification required by the constitution for anyone seeking to contest governorship election.

In its ruling, however, the court said that Senator Adeleke satisfied the requirement of Section 177 (d) of the 1999 constitution, which stated that a governorship candidate must be educated up to secondary school level or its equivalent. Citing past cases, the judge, Justice David Oladimeji, ruled that a person did not need to possess a secondary school certificate to be eligible to contest governorship election but must have education up to secondary school level, which Senator Adeleke and the plaintiffs had proved he did.

Responding in Ede yesterday, flanked by some of his mates at the Ede Muslim Grammar School, Senator Adeleke said he sat for a qualifying examination before he was given admission to the US university. Jacksonville State University (JSU) in Alabama, had earlier said that the senator did not graduate from there, however, although he was given admission.

Senator Adeleke said: “We all went to school and we know that some results would not be released but they may release the remaining results tomorrow. Who knows? After I sat for the exams, my mind was in the US.

"The university I attended did not need our qualification from here. I sat for their qualifying exam.”

He said he had been calling aspirants that contested with him for the PDP ticket and that he had held a meeting with Dr Akin Ogunbiyi in the presence of the national chairman Prince Uche Secondus and the organising secretary. Senator Adeleke said he chose to remain quiet since the conclusion of the governorship primary because of his unchanged belief in party supremacy and his respect for the leadership of the party.

“For the records, let me reiterate the obvious and easily verifiable fact that I attended the Ede Muslim Grammar School between 1979 and 1981, my schoolmates are everywhere and some are even here with me. While in school, I was a lover of football, so I was very popular. I was elected the president of the alumni association of this same school until recently,” Senator Adeleke added.

He described those questioning his attendance at the school as clearly being mischievous and deceptive. Senator Adeleke assured the people of the state of his determination to provide quality leadership and to rescue them from what he described as the mess created by the present administration.