*I didn’t attend primary, secondary schools
Alhaji Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has told the Independemt National Electoral Commission (INEC), that he didn’t attend any primary and secondary school.
The former Lagos governor, however, claimed that he had two degrees from two American universities, University of Chicago (1972-1976) and Chicago State University (1977-1979), according to the forms he submitted to the Commission.
He, however, further stated that those certificates had been stolen by unknown soldiers when they raided his house while on self-exile, during the military junta of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in the 90s.
The disclosures were contained in an affidavit sworn to at the Federal High Court, Lagos, which was submitted by Tinubu to the electoral umpire as part of his eligibility requirements for the 2023 presidential election.
The documents released on Friday, showed that Tinubu left the columns for his primary and secondary education marked “ooo” in each of the two columns.
But he stated in the same affidavit and form that he obtained a degree in Business and Administration in 1979, but did not indicate clearly the institution where he got the certificates from in that year.
The electoral law mandates candidates to submit their personal credentials that will be published for public scrutiny ahead of elections.
Alhaji 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 at both times that he attended primary and secondary schools, but said he did not attend any now.
In his previous electoral contest, Tinubu said he attended St Paul’s Children’s Home School, Ibadan, between 1958 and 1964; while his secondary education was at the Government College, Ibadan, between 1965 and 1968.
From Ibadan, Tinubu had said he proceed to Richard Daley College, Chicago, from 1969 to 1971.
He stated in the current affidavit that he attended both the Chicago State University and the University of Chicago.
The Chicago State University confirmed Tinubu as its student, graduating with a degree in Business and Administration on June 22, 1979.
All the submissions were, however, challenged as fraudulent by a prominent Nigerian lawyer, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN.
Fawehinmi, who lived 1938-2009, had in a suit argued the matter up to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the case on technical grounds rather than on its merits.
Hon. Imo Ikenga Ugochinyere, a political activist in Abuja, said he would challenge Tinubu’s filings in court, accusing him of having committed perjury.
Tinubu “commits perjury as he abandons his earlier claim of attending primary school, sworn in an affidavit to run for governor, but now claims not to have attended primary school,” he said in a statement.
His “new forms contradict his 2007 affidavit that he has primary school and secondary,” he added.
A spokesperson for Tinubu, Tunde Rahman, did not return a request seeking comments about the alleged discrepancies in his submissions to the electoral commission.
