“I wrote in 2014 that Tinubu’s affidavit that he attended Government College Ibadan (GCI) between 1965 and 1968 is false. I was in GCI from 1962-1968, and Tinubu was not there. Tinubu now tells INEC he did not go to primary or secondary school. This means he committed perjury.”
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
For the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, this is not the best of times.
This is because seven months to the election and days after he won the presidential ticket of the ruling party and made a triumphant entry back to Lagos, his political base, evidence has emerged that the former Lagos State governor may have committed perjury.
Tinubu submitted an affidavit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) claiming his degree from Chicago State University was carted away by the Nigerian Army during a raid.
READ ALSO: 2023: Nigeria needs visionary leadership, says Tunji Abayomi
But he also left the fields for primary and secondary school education fields blank, meaning he didn’t acquire those certificates.
According to Peoples Gazette, the disclosures came in an affidavit submitted by Tinubu to the electoral umpire as part of his eligibility filings for the 2023 presidential elections.
The documents released on Friday showed Tinubu left the columns for his primary and secondary education unmarked. But he said he obtained a degree in business and administration in 1979, apparently referring to his previous claims of attending the Chicago State University.
The electoral law mandates candidates to submit their personal credentials that will be published for public scrutiny ahead of elections.
Tinubu’s latest claims appear to contradict his previous election submissions, especially in 1999 and 2003 when he ran for office as a governorship candidate in Lagos. He claimed both times that he attended primary and secondary schools.
Allegations of certificate scam have dogged Tinubu’s political career since 1999 but he has always managed to wriggle out of it.
But Nigerians say he must be held accountable this time.
Reacting to the latest development Dr. Femi Aribisala, accused Tinubu of committing perjury.
Tweeting through his confirmed twitter handle, @femiaribisala, Aribisala wrote:
“I wrote in 2014 that Tinubu’s affidavit that he attended Government College Ibadan (GCI) between 1965 and 1968 is false. I was in GCI from 1962-1968, and Tinubu was not there. Tinubu now tells INEC he did not go to primary or secondary school. This means he committed perjury.”
Writing in the same vein, Mr. Reno Omokri, former social media aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, reminded Nigerians of the certificate controversy that trailed Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency and said Nigerians with not take same from Tinubu.
“Bola Tinubu, where are your primary and secondary school certificates? How could you have been accepted to university without them? Tell us the names of your schools so we can track your classmates. We don’t want another Buhari without certificate! Enough is enough!” Omokri tweeted on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a civil rights organization, Center for Reform and Public Advocacy, has given the Inspector-General of Police a 48-hour ultimatum within which he should arrest and initiate criminal prosecution against Tinubu for allegedly supplying false academic qualifications to secure nomination.
The organisation threatened that should the IGP fail to act, court action would be instituted against him for an order of mandamus to compel him to effect the arrest of Tinubu at the end of the ultimatum.
The Legal Adviser of the CRPA and human rights lawyer, Agu Kalu, issued the threat during a press conference in Abuja on Saturday.
Kalu alleged that the former Lagos State governor was not legally qualified to become the next President of Nigeria in 2023 on grounds of supplying false information on oath in his form EC 9 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Amongst others, the legal practitioner alleged that in 1999 Bola Tinubu claimed to have attended Saint Paul Aroloya Children Home School, Ibadan between 1958 and 1964 and Government College, Ibadan between 1965 and 1969, only to turn around in 2022 that he never attended any primary or secondary school in his EC9 form.
He said, “We wrote a petition to the IG on June 16, demanding the prosecution of Tinubu for providing false information on oath in his INEC form CF 001 which he submitted in 1999.
“Since the IG is yet to act on the petition, we are using this press conference to call on the IG to do the needful, he is not above the law, nobody is above the law, Sections 191 and 192 makes it a criminal offence to provide false information on oath.
“We are also calling on President Buhari to direct the IG to arrest and prosecute Tinubu for perjury, it is a very serious issue.”
He added that in the event Buhari and IG failed to do the needful, the group in conjunction with other civil groups will approach a court of law for judicial review and order of mandamus to order the IG to do the needful.
Kalu who presented a Certified True Copy ad-hoc report of the Lagos State House of Assembly, which investigated the former governor in 1999 said that Tinubu clearly admitted discrepancies in his academic qualifications.
He said that the investigation of Tinubu’s academic qualification in 1999 was the aftermath of a petition written by a foremost legal luminary and social crusader, late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN).
The Abuja lawyer explained that the position of his group for the arrest of Tinubu was not politically motivated but predicated on the need for good governance and transparent leadership Nigeria deserved in the 2023 general election.
Among vital documents attached to the petition delivered to the IGP and acknowledged by his office included the forms submitted to INEC by Tinubu in 1999 and 2022 for verification.