The Chicago State University (CSU) has released the academic records of President Bola Tinubu, authenticating his certificate and contradicting claims by his opponents that he did not attend the university or that he forged his certificate.
The release of the records comes after a US district court ordered CSU to comply with a request by Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the presidential election, for Tinubu’s academic records.
In response to Abubakar’s third request, CSU said that the diploma certificate it issued to Tinubu in 1979 matched the format of the replacement certificate that he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 1997.
CSU also released several samples of diplomas issued to other students in 1979, which showed that they had the same font and logo as the Tinubu certificate.
The university also confirmed that Tinubu was addressed as a “Mr” in his admission letter and that he ticked “male” in his undergraduate admissions application form.
This contradicts some transcripts circulating on the internet, which read “F”, suggesting “female”.
CSU said that the discrepancy in the date on the Tinubu certificate was due to a clerical error.
The release of the academic records is a major setback for Abubakar’s campaign, as it undermines his claims that Tinubu did not attend CSU or that he forged his certificate.
It is unclear whether Abubakar will continue with his legal challenge, but it is clear that the CSU records have authenticated Tinubu’s certificate.
