Atiku’s Traverse with Chicago State University: Here’s Why He’s Seeking Tinubu’s Certificate
In a dramatic legal battle that has captured the attention of Nigerians, former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar has intensified efforts to obtain Bola Tinubu’s certificate from Chicago State University, in a move to prove that the certificate Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was forged.
On September 6, 2023, a five-man panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, after a 12-hour marathon judgment, dismissed Peter Obi and Atiku’s petitions against President Tinubu and the INEC for lack of merit.
Despite the ruling, the legal battle that emanated from the February 25, 2023, Presidential Election is yet to be put to rest, as Peter Obi and Atiku are set to challenge the verdict at the Supreme Court.
However, a significant twist has followed the ruling, with Atiku Abubakar asserting that the individual who attended Chicago State University (CSU) might not be the same person as President Bola Tinubu. Atiku and his legal team claim that Tinubu, who graduated from CSU, is a black American female, while the current occupant of the Nigerian presidency is male.
While Chicago University has insisted that Tinubu indeed graduated from their institution, the disparity between the two certificates purportedly released by the University has raised further questions.
Why Atiku is seeking to prove Tinubu’s certificate forgery:
It is not the first time a Nigerian President has been accused of tendering a fake certificate to contest an election. Leading up to the 2019 Presidential election, former President Muhammadu Buhari was accused of parading a forged WAEC certificate. Atiku would challenge the legality of Buhari contesting the election in a petition that was later dismissed by the Supreme Court.
However, if proven guilty, tendering a fake certificate is one of the criteria that can disqualify a President.
This is according to section 137(1j) of the 1999 constitution as amended.
The law states, “A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”
Although no President has been removed through the court since 1960, whether as a result of submitting false credentials or any other allegation, many politicians have been caught in the web of certificate scandals.
When Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, Salisu Buhari, the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Fourth Republic, was forced to resign from office over allegations of certificate forgery, six weeks after he assumed office. While he was later convicted of certificate forgery and sentenced to two years in prison, with an option of a fine, which he paid, the former Speaker was later pardoned by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
