Accusations of certificate forgery have been swirling around Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, but the controversy is far from over.
During a recent hearing, an official from the Chicago State University (CSU) confirmed that Tinubu graduated from the university in 1979.
However, the official also stated that the university could not verify the authenticity of the diploma presented by Tinubu to Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This is because the university does not keep copies of student diplomas.
[ Ugandan Opposition Leader Bobi Wine Arrested As Democracy Crackdown Continues In Africa ]
Furthermore, the official testified that the signature, logo, and seal on Tinubu’s certificate differed from those on other certificates issued by CSU in the same graduation year.
These discrepancies have raised doubts about the credibility of Tinubu’s diploma.
Atiku Abubakar, Tinubu’s opponent in Nigeria’s February presidential elections, filed a petition in a US court to obtain Tinubu’s academic records from CSU.
Abubakar hoped to use these records as evidence to nullify Tinubu’s election, claiming that he had presented forged university papers to INEC.
In response to these allegations, Temitope Ajayi, Tinubu’s special assistant on media and publicity, stated that the claim of a fake certificate does not make sense.
Ajayi pointed out that Tinubu already possessed a valid university certificate and argued that the replacement certificate presented to INEC was legitimate.
According to Ajayi, the CSU official confirmed that replacements for lost certificates are issued by vendors, not the university itself.
Remember that there are concerns about Tinubu’s age and schooling from primary to high school to university. Nobody has been able to tell stories about his childhood and upbringing.
Some of the institutions with which the president claimed to have previously worked, such as Deloitte, denied knowing him.
However, Tinubu has asked Nigerians to ignore the concerns around his person and focus on the good intentions he has for the Africa’s most populous country as president.
