The presidency has refuted allegations of certificate forgery made against President Bola Tinubu in relation to his academic records from Chicago State University (CSU). The university recently released Tinubu's academic records to his political rival, Atiku Abubakar, as ordered by a court. Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party's presidential candidate in the 2023 election, had sought these documents to support his claim of CSU certificate forgery against Tinubu.
Tinubu's media aide, Temitope Ajayi, responded to the allegations by emphasizing that CSU, under oath, affirmed Tinubu's attendance and graduation from the institution. The university also clarified that it does not handle replacements for lost certificates. Ajayi argued that it makes no sense to accuse Tinubu of submitting a fake certificate when the university confirmed his graduation with honors. He further stated that a person cannot forge academic records they already possess, reiterating that "you can only forge what you don’t have."
This response comes after the presidential election court in Nigeria had dismissed the certificate forgery allegations against Tinubu, a ruling Atiku is attempting to challenge in a U.S. court with the hope of obtaining official documents to support his claim
