‘Why Tinubu May Still Have a Leg to Stand on if CSU Rescinds His Certificate’: INEC Official Reveals

• Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate in the February 25 poll, believes probing President Bola Tinubu’s academic records would support his lawsuit
• Atiku, a former vice president of Nigeria, is contesting President Tinubu’s victory in the last general election
• The PDP candidate claims Tinubu falsified a certificate he purportedly obtained from the Chicago State University (CSU) in 1979 and submitted to the INEC

Chicago, USA - A commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mallam Mohammed Haruna, has said President Bola Tinubu “may still have a leg to stand on” if the institutions he attended in the United States decide to revoke his degrees.

Mallam Haruna said this while responding to an October 7 piece by US-based Nigerian scholar, Professor Farooq Kperogi. In the article titled ‘Ignorance of America that Atiku’s Lawyers and Supporters Betray’, Kperogi said, “Certificates are not used as legal proof of graduation from any school in America and therefore can't be forged in the legal sense of the term”.

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'Nigeria's constitution liberal on academic qualification'

Haruna, while replying to Prof. Kperogi’s publication, provided his “personal opinion”. He says Nigeria's constitution is permissive on academic qualification — "much more liberal on this issue than most Nigerians imagine".

He wrote:

“Chapter 8, Part IV, Section 318 of the Nigerian Constitution which is in four sub-sections (a) (b) (c) and (d), defines ‘School certificate or its equivalent.’ Sub-section (c) lists "Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent" as sufficing, provided it is accompanied by (i) service in a public or private sector acceptable to INEC, and (ii) attendance at courses and trainings for up to a total of one year at any institution acceptable to INEC, and (iii) ability to read, write, understand and communicate in English to the satisfaction of INEC.

“Sub-section (d) is even more telling. It simply says, ‘any other qualification acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission’.

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“What all this means is that even if Daley College rescinds President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's associate degree and his bachelor's degree from Chicago State University automatically follows, he may still have a leg to stand on. Such is the liberality of our Constitution on academic qualification.

“In other words, it is much more liberal on this issue than most Nigerians imagine, apparently including politicians who gratuitously claim certificates they do not need to qualify as candidates.”

Certificate saga: Cleric sends message to Atiku

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Founder of the Jehovah's Eye Salvation Ministry, Prophet Godwin Ikuru, asked Atiku to “respect Tinubu because the president has not disappointed the country”.

Prophet Ikuru, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), urged the former vice-president to ‘stop embarrassing Nigeria’.

"Tinubu's certificate not fake", US Don Kperogi

Legit.ng also reported that Kperogi shared what he calls “facts” about the storm over the authenticity of the credential President Tinubu submitted to INEC.

Kperogi said contrary to claims by opposition elements, Tinubu did not forge his credentials with INEC.

Source: Legit.ng