BBC did a paid job on Tinubu’s Chicago papers, twists facts in CSU deposition, they say
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong has joined Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to argue the BBC report on Wednesday failed to answer some important questions in its investigation of Chicago State University (CSU) documents on President Bola Tinubu.
Effiong said this is so, especially as the BBC admitted to the existence of three certificates purportedly issued to one person, Tinubu.
The BBC claimed in the report that, based on its fact-checking, there is no evidence Tinubu forged the CSU certificate he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as alleged by Atiku and confirmed in the court deposition made by CSU Registrar Caleb Westberg on October 3.
Earlier this year, Tinubu flatly and publicly rejected the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) report which said, among other irregularities, only 33 per cent of the presidential election result had been collated when the INEC declared him winner.
The report corroborated other reports by local observers and also made a number of recommendations on how to improve Nigeria’s electoral system, but Tinubu and his henchmen dismissed it as “foreign interference”.
The EU-EOM report was also rejected by the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) which affirmed Tinubu’s election in its judgment on September 6.
The INEC invited and accredited the EU-EOM to monitor the election, to write a report on its observations, and make recommendations for improvement going forward.
The BBC story on the Chicago papers was written by three Nigerian journalists working with the BBC, a foreign entity, and Tinubu and Tinubu goons have latched on to it like a lifeline, and are trumpeting it, without tagging it “foreign interference” in a case that is now at the Supreme Court.
The three Nigerian BBC journalists are Chiagozie Nwonwu, Fauziyya Tukur, Olaronke Alo. One of them, Alo, previously worked with Television Continental (TVC) News, which is owned by Tinubu, who also owns The Nation newspaper.
Alo anchored at least two programmes – Fashions Finest Africa and WakeUpNigeria – on TVC before she joined the BBC.
This background has prompted allegation by Atiku that Tinubu slithered into the ranks of the three Nigerian BBC journalists and bought them to launder his dented image, a common occurrence in the local media.
Tinubu through his lawyers had in US courts vehemently opposed the release of his CSU academic records, arguing that releasing them would cause him “severe and irreparable harm.”
Legions of Tinubu bashers have claimed the BBC twisted and tried to rewrite the facts in the court deposition by Westberg – whereas, they added, the truth is already known, as Atiku people have previously pointed out Westberg confirmed on pages 26 and 27 of the deposition the certificate Tinubu presented to the INEC was not issued by CSU.
The certified, full copy of the deposition and the accompanying Tinubu’s Chicago papers are in the public domain.
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Related articles:
CSU deposition shows why Tinubu forged his certificate
Atiku warns Tinubu scheming media gag over Chicago papers, FBI documents
Tinubu in more US bombshells as FBI begins release of 25,000 documents on him this month
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BBC report ‘has not answered most pressing questions,’ says Effiong
“I have read the BBC article,” Effiong the human rights lawyer wrote on X (Twitter), per reporting by The PUNCH.
“The crux of the report is based on assumption and conjecture. It has not answered the most pressing questions or added anything new to the issues in contention.
“It is predicated on the assumption that the replacement diploma certificate that Tinubu presented to INEC may have been obtained by him from Chicago State University simply because it is similar to or consistent with the format used by CSU during the 1990s.
“If this report was aimed at fact-finding and based on serious investigation, the BBC should have told us what year the certificate was obtained by Tinubu from the CSU.”
LP asks Tinubu to take responsibility for his certificate ‘mess’
LP National Legal Adviser Kehinde Edun said regardless of what anyone may say, Tinubu must take responsibility “for the mess he is putting the country through.”
He added: “They [the BBC] are entitled to their opinion. As far as we are concerned, this issue has become so messy and too dirty. In fact, in this circumstance, we even sympathise with Tinubu because he put himself in too many problems by not coming out clean about so many things.
“If you look at what Peter Obi said today, he was actually showing some form of empathy by saying that this man [Tinubu] should just clean up his mess for the sake of the country.’’
Atiku fingers Tinubu’s ‘propaganda programme’
The report “is part of President Tinubu administration’s propaganda programme,” Atiku said in his own reaction in a statement issued through his Media Aide Phrank Shaibu.
“Sometime last week when the National Broadcasting Commission [NBC] issued a final warning to Arise News TV, we pointed out that the Tinubu administration was on the verge of launching a full-blown propaganda and also intimidating ‘uncooperative’ media houses into discrediting and downplaying the CSU scandal,” Shaibu said.
“Sadly, we never imagined that it would be the BBC that would become the willing tool.”
Shaibu lampooned the BBC for attempting to “bamboozle Nigerians with a jaundiced report when the details are clear for everyone to see.”
He alleged the BBC investigation was carried out with a predetermined goal – to clear Tinubu and urged the BBC and other fact-checkers to be more circumspect as their job is too sensitive to entertain errors.
“If the BBC had invested in proper investigative journalism, it would have been the one uncovering some of Tinubu’s scandals instead of relying on Atiku for information on Tinubu’s certificates.”
Shaibu also berated Tinubu “for holding just one cabinet meeting since taking office,” stressing it is an irony that Tinubu, who has the largest cabinet in Nigeria’s history, has decided not to meet with them.
PDP Deputy National Youth Leader Timothy Osadolor reiterated the CSU certificate Tinubu presented to the INEC is not genuine, and challenged him to put the information in the public domain in the right perspective.
“I would urge them to toe the part of honour like the BBC of old, and not get their reputation stained by this saga that has stained so many characters, individuals and institutions,” Osadolor warned.
Atiku insists Tinubu should clarify discrepancies in his academic records
Atiku again challenged Tinubu to clarify the discrepancies in his CSU academic records.
Atiku, in a statement issued through his Media Adviser Paul Ibe clarified that Siddiq Abubakar on his West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) certificate is his former name.
This was in reaction to a member of the APC, Ayekoto Akindele, who questioned in a Facebook post: “At what point did the new name “Atiku Abubakar” change to “Siddiq Abubakar” which is the name written on the WAEC certificates presented to INEC and when did “Siddiq Abubakar” change back to Atiku Abubakar which is now his current name?”
Atiku described the enquiries as healthy because they probe the truth, and “we also notice that a lot of those who engage on the issue are supporters and aides of President Bola Tinubu.”
Ibe added: “To start with, Atiku Abubakar wrote his WAEC examination in 1968 with the name Siddiq Abubakar.
“Every elementary student of Islamic civilization will not find it hard to decipher that both Siddiq and Atiku are names that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) gave to his bosom friend, Caliph Abubakar.
“Therefore, Siddiq and Atiku are names that have a historical link to one person in Islamic theology.”
Ibe recounted Atiku in 1973, that is 50 years ago, deposed to an affidavit he wished to be known officially as Atiku Abubakar.
APC insists BBC report vindicates party’s position
All Progressives Congress (APC) Publicity Director Bala Ibrahim slammed Atiku over the certificate controversy.
He insisted the BBC investigation is “factual and a reflection of reality,” and a vindication of the position of the APC.
“What the BBC has done now is to lend credence to the submission of the President that he did not forge any document. If anybody is in doubt, he can come up with a contrary investigation,” Ibrahim said.
“For the BBC disinformation team to come with this report, it means the information is sacrosanct.”
Ibrahim dismissed speculation the BBC, a foreign media outlet, may have been compromised to give Tinubu a clean bill.
“I am saying this to dismiss the insinuation by critics of this administration that the BBC is compromised. I served with the BBC for upwards of 27 years and retired as a regional coordinator in charge of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
“In all these years of service, one thing is central in the training of the BBC, which is credibility and fact-finding. The BBC lays emphasis on re-training people on fact-finding and importance of credibility.
“That is why the BBC is the only media in the world that doesn’t run advert. It doesn’t collect money from anybody because it is being funded by the [British] Foreign Office.
“No BBC staffer is in touch with money or allowed to collect money from anywhere. The question of being compromised or influenced to do something is laughable.”