The Presidency reiterated on Wednesday that the academic records obtained from Chicago State University (CSU), United States, have vindicated President Bola Tinubu and confirmed him as an alumnus of the institution. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public Affairs, Temitope Ajayi, also clarified that CSU did not assert that the certificate submitted by Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the presidential election was forged.
Ajayi emphasized that the CSU deposition did not contain any statement from the university stating that President Tinubu’s certificate was fake. Instead, the university affirmed that Tinubu graduated with honors and clarified that replacements for lost certificates are handled by vendors, not the university.
Regarding the ongoing legal matter, former Vice President Abubakar Atiku is expected to file additional documents at the Supreme Court today. Atiku, who contested against Tinubu in the February presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), obtained academic records from CSU in pursuit of his election appeal.
The university released the President’s academic records following a court order by Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert, who granted Atiku’s request for the release of Tinubu’s academic records. Although Tinubu’s legal team objected to the release, federal judge Nancy Maldonado overruled their objections and ordered CSU to provide the records.
In the deposition made by CSU, the institution responded positively to Atiku’s requests and affirmed Tinubu’s attendance at the university. CSU Registrar, Carl Westberg, who conducted the deposition, noted that the school received numerous daily inquiries about Tinubu, apparently from Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, addressed the controversy surrounding President Tinubu’s educational qualification, describing it as frivolous. Tuggar emphasized that the federal government was not wasting time on Atiku’s case in the US and that foreign leaders and international organizations were not concerned about the issue. He urged Nigerians to focus on development and not get distracted by such matters.
As the legal proceedings continue, Atiku is expected to submit additional evidence to the Supreme Court, and the case remains a topic of discussion both in Nigeria and abroad.