In a recent development, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the presidency of manipulating facts to create confusion among the public regarding President Bola Tinubu’s academic records at Chicago State University (CSU).
After weeks of legal battles, CSU has finally released Tinubu’s academic records to Atiku Abubakar. On Friday, the former vice president filed these documents as fresh evidence at the Supreme Court, where he and the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had lodged an appeal consisting of 86 grounds to challenge the judgment of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, which affirmed Tinubu’s victory.
In a statement released by Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, on Sunday, he claimed that some media aides to the president have been actively working to counter the narrative surrounding Tinubu’s academic history. He further alleged that certain media outlets have consistently skewed their reporting to justify a distorted interpretation of the facts at hand.
Atiku continued to assert that Bola Tinubu submitted a falsified document to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and swore an affidavit under oath to support it.
Ibe cited deposition records, publicly available, wherein the Registrar of Chicago State University, Caleb Westberg, was asked a straightforward question under oath: “CSU has determined that it does not have a true and correct copy of the diploma issued to Bola Tinubu in 1979, correct?” To which the Registrar responded, “That’s correct.”
Moreover, on page 27 of the deposition, a similar question was posed to Mr. Westberg: “So, CSU, after going through every diploma, was unable to find an authentic copy of any diploma that CSU issued to Tinubu in 1979. Is that correct?” The CSU Registrar, in his response, stated, “We did not find any diploma issued by CSU in 1979 to Mr. Tinubu.”
Atiku’s aide emphasized that when asked if CSU was aware of or in possession of the diploma that Tinubu submitted to INEC, Mr. Westberg unequivocally replied, “Correct, we are not aware of it.”
This ongoing controversy surrounding Bola Tinubu’s academic credentials has escalated further, with Atiku Abubakar presenting these documents as crucial evidence in the legal battle challenging the presidential election results. The nation awaits the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter, which will undoubtedly have significant implications for the political landscape in Nigeria.