A news report by the BBC’s Global Disinformation Team has stated that there is no evidence that President Bola Tinubu’s academic records submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission were forged.
The report stated that the academic records were submitted to the commission by the Chicago State University.
The university released Tinubu’s academic records, which went viral on social media but were tagged fake by some opposition party leaders and members, including his main rivals in the just-concluded presidential election; Labour Party’s Peter Obi and the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar.
The release of the president’s academic documents is the culmination of a judicial case filed in August by Abubakar.
He (Atiku) was hoping to have the victor disqualified after accusing him of falsifying the CSU diploma of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration awarded in 1979 that he submitted to the electoral authority.
However, Tinubu’s lawyers opposed the discovery application citing privacy concerns, but a US court decided it should proceed.
The documents requested by Mr Abubakar were: A copy of any diploma issued by CSU in 1979.
A copy of the diploma CSU gave to Mr Tinubu in 1979. Copies of diplomas with the same font, seal, signatures, and wording awarded to other students that are similar to what CSU awarded to Mr Tinubu in 1979.
Documents from CSU that were certified by Jamar Orr, who was then a staff member of CSU, in the 12 months from 1 August 2022. In response to request one, CSU submitted seven diplomas covering different disciplines with the names of the students redacted.
According to the university’s registrar, these diplomas had not been collected by the students. In response to request two, CSU stated that it could not find the diploma they issued to Mr Tinubu in 1979 because they do not keep copies of diplomas already collected by students.
In response to request three, CSU stated that it produced for Mr Tinubu a replacement diploma dated 27 June 1979.
It also released diplomas awarded to other students that bore similar font, seal, signatures, and wordings as Mr Tinubu’s diplomas.
In response to request four, CSU submitted other academic documents initially attested to and released by Mr Orr.
