Chicago University Saga: “We’re Clutching at Weak Straws”, Omokri Writes Open Letter to PDP
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- An opposition figure, Reno Omokri, has refused to join his party to declare that President Bola Tinubu forged his academic certificate
- Omokri, a former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, said Obi's candidature during the 2023 election made the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lose to Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC)
- Omokri asked the PDP to face reality and ensure it does not have a divided house ahead of the 2027 general election
FCT, Abuja - Reno Omokri, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday, October 6, wrote a letter to his party.
Omokri, in the letter, claimed Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), “knew he could not win” the 2023 election while contesting.
Source: Facebook
"Obi's agents behind CSU saga": Omokri
Omokri alleged Obi "stole away vote that would naturally have come to the PDP".
He wrote on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle:
"As a true friend of the Peoples Democratic Party, I told Peter Obi this before the election. I also said the same thing to Waziri Atiku Abubakar.
"I said if we did not find a way to convince Peter Obi not to run, then we would have to take him on head-on because there was not enough space for both him and Waziri Atiku on the plinth of victory. But that is now history.
"The fact of the matter is that the current trajectory of our party is very and eerily similar to the election denial that prevailed in the Republican Party after the 2020 election. Pinning all our hopes on a smoking gun from Chicago State University that failed to manifest shows that we have reached the end of our ropes. Let us face the truth.
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"AriseTV and other irresponsible media got our hopes up unnecessarily. Chicago State University never denied Bola Tinubu. That was a big fat lie from Rufai Oseni, @ruffydfire a corrupt journalist sponsored by Peter Obi, a rival of Mr. Tinubu.
"A meticulous reading of Mr. Westberg's deposition shows that he affirmed Mr. Tinubu three times as a bonafide graduate they once issued with a diploma certificate. Under normal circumstances, it would be apparent to us that there is no case here. Chicago State University, through its registrar, Mr. Caleb Westberg, has testified under oath that Bola Tinubu, the male now President of Nigeria, was admitted, attended and graduated from their institution. They never denied his credentials.
"What they said, both in their affidavit and the deposition that followed is that they could not attest to the diploma tendered by Bola Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission, not because Bola Tinubu did not graduate from their university, but because a third party vendor issued it, and certificates are more of "a Nigerian thing".
Omokri continued:
"In case members of my party do not know, in November of 2022, this same Mr. Mike Enahoro-Ebah attempted to disqualify Mr. Tinubu on exactly these same grounds, and an FCT Magistrate Court struck out his case without being assigned. And we think the Supreme Court will give credence to what a Magistrate Court dismissed?
"What do we now want to prove at the Supreme Court, even in the unlikely event we are allowed to present new evidence? That Bola Tinubu forged a diploma for a degree that he legitimately earned?
"If not for desperation, why would the great PDP that produced Presidents Obasanjo, Yar'adua and Jonathan even consider clutching at such weak straws? It is like saying a man forged a cheque for an account in his name!
"Bola Tinubu's political foes have clutched at this straw before in 1999 and 2003 and failed. And that is what we now want to hold onto in 2023? Twenty years after it failed? The people behind this desperation are almost all agents of Peter Obi. They don't love Waziri Atiku Abubakar or the PDP.
"It is a strategy of using Waziri to fight Asiwaju, hoping they cancel each other and that a rerun election is ordered, which Peter Obi will win. They fail to consider that as of today, that is yes daddily impossible.
"Waziri Atiku Abubakar would have been a better President than Bola Tinubu. But we were outsmarted by Bola Tinubu. Our redemption will not come from Chicago. It will come from facing reality and ensuring we do not have a divided house in 2027.
"I have been more loyal to the PDP than those now trying to make something out of nothing. And if I cannot tell my party the truth, then to borrow the words of Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:19, I am of all men most miserable!”
Tinubu's lawyer explains president's gender error
In an earlier report by Legit.ng, Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Afolabi, attributed the gender error on Tinubu's Chicago State University certificate to a mix-up.
Tinubu’s academic certificate obtained from the university has been the subject of hot controversy in recent days, especially as the legal battle extended to the United States of America.
Source: Legit.ng
