The lawyer to the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the last election and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar stated that Bola Tinubu forged his certificate.
During a press conference held on Thursday, Atiku’s attorney, Kalu Kalu, unveiled the significant findings uncovered by their legal team within the documents received from CSU.
In response to a journalist’s inquiry regarding the admissibility of these certificates in the Supreme Court, Kalu Kalu confirmed that Atiku Abubakar intends to introduce these documents as part of his petition.
He then went on to outline five key revelations from the documents that will bear relevance to Atiku’s case in the courtroom.
According to him,
“1. Bola A. Tinubu forged the certificate he presented to INEC.
“2. The qualifying certificate from Southwest College bears a female indicating it does not belong to Bola A. Tinubu who is a male.
“3. The CSU admission application form claims that Bola A. Tinubu attended Government College Lagos and graduated in 1970 when the school was established in 1974.
“4. The owner of the CSU Document is a Black American and Bola A. Tinubu denied having dual citizenship in his INEC form which means the documents do not belong to him or he perjured in his INEC Form.
“5. He claimed A in his name in the Chicago documents is Ahmed but the NYSC documents he submitted to INEC have Adekunle.”
Atiku, who also responded to questions in the press conference expressed his unwavering commitment to the legal process by stating,
- “I will only conclude this battle when the court delivers its verdict. Whether the court affirms my position or President Tinubu’s, I will accept it gracefully because, in this moment, the Supreme Court stands as the ultimate arbiter, beyond which there is no higher authority.”
Atiku also extended an earnest appeal for support from other presidential candidates, urging, them to join him in the campaign to enshrine probity, accountability, and the basic principles of justice, morality, and uprightness in our country and in our government.
- “Let me call on all well-meaning Nigerians, leaders of thoughts, our religious, traditional, community and political leaders and in particular, Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP and the leaders of every political party in Nigeria and indeed every single person who loves this country as I do and who wishes nothing but the best for this country as I do, to join me in this campaign to enshrine probity, accountability and the basic principles of justice, morality, and uprightness in our country and in our government. This is a task for every one of us,”. Atiku
During the press conference, when Mr. Kalu was queried about the significance of the documents acquired from Chicago State University in the context of the Supreme Court, he responded with conviction, stating
- “It is very, very clear that from decided authorities, the Supreme Court has held that they can accept a party to adduce fresh evidence as long as certain conditions are met and from what transpired in proceedings in US courts, that condition has been met.” Kalu
He went on to emphasize
- “So, as we speak, our law is very clear that a party at fault cannot be allowed to enjoy the fruits of its illegality.”
Recall Atiku initiated legal action against President Tinubu, challenging the authenticity of Tinubu’s educational credentials obtained from Chicago State University (CSU).
Notably, President Tinubu made considerable efforts to block the release of these documents, contending that it constituted an intrusion into his privacy. However, the court dismissed his objections.
Subsequently, the academic records were disclosed to Atiku’s legal team on Monday, and a verbal deposition was provided by Caleb Westberg, the Registrar of CSU, the following day.
Meanwhile, The presidency has earlier refuted the allegation that the certificate presented by Tinubu to INEC is a forgery.
President Tinubu’s media aide, Temitope Ajayi, said this in a statement on Wednesday regarding the controversy around the CSU academic record.
He said,
- “We should be clear. In the deposition made by the Chicago State University, there was nowhere the University said the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is fake.
- “The University insisted under oath that President Tinubu graduated with honours and even at that, replacements for lost certificates are done by vendors not the University.
- “The claim that President Tinubu submitted fake certificate to INEC does not make sense. A man can not forge the academic records he possesses. You can only forge what you don’t have.”
It constitutes journalistic malpractice to report exclusively on the allegations posited by Atiku Abukabar’s lawyer without conducting any fact-checking, or providing context concerning the actual transcript and deposition the lawyer references, let alone including a rebuttal from the defendant’s legal team, especially on a case pending before the Supreme Court with substantial public interest among Nigerian citizens.
One would expect journalists from this publication to cover this issue comprehensively, instead of letting their personal political biases obstruct a thorough and accurate presentation of the facts surrounding this case.
If readers sought propaganda, they’d turn to Twitter. What your audience deserves and demands is measured reporting and thorough investigation of the facts, not impulsive publication of press releases issued by politicians’ aides.
It’s a Sponsored political post from the same camp who sold the lie that PMB was long dead and one Jibril was the one in Aso rock then.
. The writer could not hide his bias for same reason and I hope he will not put Nairametrics in legal trouble
@res non verba, there’s absolutely NOTHING WRONG with the press reporting an event. Moreso, when they specifically indicated by use of quotation marks that they headline is simply an allegation made by the person to whom it is specifically attributed to.
The rules of a free press (or freedom of speech) does NOT change for President Tinubu nor for the sensitivities of his supporters. Mr. Tinubu and his supporters are free to hold their own news conference, which I am reasonably sure Nairametrics would similarly cover.
In Nigeria, we tend to chase shadows in derogation of substance. For myriad reasons, it may make no difference in the Supreme Court case, but at least it is now a matter of SWORN TESTIMONY that CSU did not issue the certificate provided to INEC by Tinubu.
That, in itself, is “of substantial public interest among Nigerian citizens” (to quote your own words).
It’s mischief to only consider a few lines of the entire deposition and Also to ignore what was filed under oath in court at the magistrate court and on appeal – by CSU as well – all must be read in unison to arrive at CSU’s entire statement which is – no forgery was committed.
Can anything be done!
Yes, Tinubu’s team can issue a rebuttal…
But, knowing how this government works, I presume you are wondering if the secret police DSS will issue warnings to the opposition and the general public, and perhaps arrest a few people for so-called “cyber-bullying”. SMH