The Presidency has clarified that the certificate submitted by President Bola Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is authentic and not forged, countering insinuations in some quarters. According to Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Temitope Ajayi, Chicago State University (CSU) confirmed that President Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution. CSU also affirmed under oath that they do not handle replacements for lost certificates.
Ajayi stated that there is no truth in the claim of forgery and argued that a person cannot forge academic records they already possess. He emphasized that the allegation that President Tinubu submitted a fake certificate to INEC does not make sense.
This clarification comes in response to a petition by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, who requested President Tinubu’s academic records to support allegations of forgery. It’s worth noting that the presidential election tribunal had previously dismissed similar allegations of forgery against President Tinubu.
