Labour Party presidential candidate in the last general election, Peter Obi, has challenged President Tinubu to clear the air on his true identity to Nigerians amid the controversy surrounding the President’s Chicago State University academic record.
Obi made this statement in a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, highlighting that Nigerians deserve to know the truth about the identity of the person in charge of the national affairs of their country.
Following the release of the academic records of Tinubu by Chicago State University and the deposition of the registrar, Caleb Westberg, of the institution, there have been mixed reactions to the authenticity of the certificate.
According to the former Anambra State governor, the controversy is unwarranted and unnecessary since the president can unequivocally clarify his identity and academic records without letting Nigerians resort to speculations.
He said,
- “I therefore respectfully and humbly call on him to immediately and personally mount the Rushmore of his present high office to perform a simple task once and for all time. He should reintroduce himself to the nation he governed and to the world for the avoidance of further doubt.
- “He should let the world know his name, his nationality, his place of birth, his parentage, the primary and secondary school he attended with date as well as the actual universities and certificate obtained. He should indicate clearly where and when he did his national youth service.”
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Furthermore, Obi remarked that the President should not outsource the task of clarifying his identity to spokespersons or lawyers.
He stated the matter of personal identity is too sensitive to leave to third parties to deliberate upon.
- “The task is one that only Chief Bola Tinubu himself can perform through a direct personal statement. He must perform this task urgently to lay to rest the many lingering doubts and valid speculations about his true identity.
- “A leader cannot outsource a clear, unambiguous personal statement about his identity to political surrogates, official spokespersons, lawyers or any other persons no matter how highly placed.
- “A matter of personal identity of a leader is too sensitive and central to the function of the office he currently occupied to be trifled with, outsourced or disguised under the cloak of officialdom. It is about integrity, morality, values, and the rule of law that define the character of a nation and its people,” he added.
What You Should Know
The Chicago State University (CSU) last week released the academic records of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu following the request by Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election in line with an Illinois, United States (U.S.) court order.
CSU officially responded to a Revised Subpoena to Produce Documents in the legal inquiry, dated September 13, 2023.
The released documents have spurred different controversies in the media, as members of the opposition parties have traded words with the President’s spokespersons on the validity of the results.
