Kogi West Senatorial District at the upper chamber of the National
Assembly, Dino Melaye, has deepened.
Documents obtained exclusively by Saturday PUNCH through painstaking and
thorough investigations showed that the embattled senator has a
Bachelor of Arts certificate in Geography from the Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, Kaduna State.
The statement of results reads,
“This is to certify that Daniel Jonah Melaye having completed an
approved course of study and passed the prescribed examinations as,
under the authority of the Senate been awarded the Bachelor of Arts
(Geography) with Third Class honours.”
The statement, issued by the Office of the Registrar, Academic Office
and dated February 3, 2000, was signed by B.B. Mshelthlila.
There are, however, certain discrepancies that beg for more clarifications. For instance, in the
statement of results, his name was given as “Daniel Jonah MELAYE.”
Punch adds that checks by one of their correspondents on
https://abu.edu.ng/ revealed that Geography is in the Faculty of Science
and not the Faculty of Arts as reflected in the statement of results.
Also, in the senator’s NYSC discharge certificate, which was issued on
July 8, 2001, his name read “Melaye Daniel” and not Daniel Jonah as
shown in the statement of results.
Also, in the diploma certificate issued to him by the University of Jos on August 3, 2006, his name read “Daniel Dino Melaye.”
He was issued an Advanced Diploma certificate in Law, Security and
Conflict Resolution. He finished with ‘Lower Credit’ on August 3, 2006.
However, in his Senior School Certificate in 1992, his name read ‘Melaiye Daniel Jonah O.’ with Melaye being wrongly spelt.
In the result, he had P8 in English Language, P8 in Mathematics, P8 in
Geography, P8 in Chemistry, C5 in Christian Religious Knowledge, P7 in
Economics, C6 in Biology and B3 in Agric Science.
Melaye’s trouble began on Monday, March 20, 2017 when Sahara Reporters
alleged that the senator did not graduate from ABU for his first degree,
against his claim that he studied Geography in the prestigious
institution.
The news medium also alleged that Melaye, who is the Chairman, Senate
Committee on Federal Capital Territory, bribed his Head of Department,
who assisted him to forge his transcript.
SR also said some lecturers in the Geography Department insisted that
Melaye did not graduate from the department and that his name was not on
the graduation list because he failed five compulsory courses.
Following the report, Melaye dismissed the allegations, daring the news
medium to sue him if it had authentic evidence to back its claims. While
speaking on the floor of the Senate, Melaye also addressed himself as
an “authentic graduate” of ABU.
The PUNCH says they contacted ABU to verify the conflicting information,
the institution’s Information Officer, Adamu Mohammed, promised that
the institution would come out with its position on Wednesday, which it
failed to do as of the time of filing this report.
It will be recalled that in furtherance to his defence, Melaye had
reportedly claimed that he obtained degrees from the prestigious Harvard
University, London School of Economics and Political Science and a
post-graduate degree from the University of Jos.
But in a swift response to an enquiry, Harvard University, in a
statement from the Registrar’s office, on Thursday noted that Melaye was
not a graduate of the institution as he only completed a week-long
leadership seminar in November 2016.
The London School of Economics equally responded on Thursday, saying
there was no proof on the institution’s database that Melaye obtained
any degree from the school.
But on Thursday, Dino filed a N5bn libel suit against Sahara Reporters at a FCT High Court.