How Bola Tinubu's Academic Certificates Were Stolen

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Bola Tinubu has revealed how his academic certificates were stolen.

In a statement to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu said his academic certificates were stolen by some ‘unknown persons’.

In the affidavit he swore to support his nomination form for the office of the president, Tinubu said he “went on self-exile from October 1994 to October 1999 and when I returned I discovered that my property including all the documents relating to my qualification and my certificates in respect of paragraph 3 above were looted by unknown persons.

“My house was the target of searches by various security agents from the time the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was forced to adjourn following the military takeover of government on November 17, 1993.

"I was the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Banking and Finance. I was also a plaintiff in one of the two suits against the Interim National Government in 1993.”

The ruling party presidential candidate, who failed to provide information regarding his primary and secondary education in the INEC form, stated that he attended the University of Chicago between 1972 and 1976, where he obtained a B.Sc in Economics.

The form also showed that he obtained a B.Sc in Business and Administration, as well as a certificate in Public Account.

Meanwhile, a civil society group, Center for Reform and Pubic Advocacy has written the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, demanding the arrest and prosecution of Senator Tinubu within 48 hours over alleged perjury.

In a press statement on Saturday, the legal adviser of the organisation, Kalu Kalu Agu, said the IGP had failed to act on an earlier letter dated June 16, 2022, accusing Tinubu of “false information on oath contrary to sections 191 and 192 of the Criminal Code Act, LFN, 2004, which he admitted he did not possess in Annexure C.”

The lawyer said the group would file for an order of mandamus to compel the IGP to perform his constitutional obligation in the interest of “good governance, accountability, probity and transparency.”