Atiku Abubakar and Bola Ahmed Tinubu With the issuance of the academic records of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, following a judgment he acquired from the Northern District of Illinois, many people are skeptical about how the new development may affect the Election Petition Tribunal which is at the Supreme Court stage.
It could be important to recall that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had petitioned the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal asking the court to depose President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he was not duly elected. However, the Court of Appeal where the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal commenced had thrown out Atiku's case on the ground that his case lacked merit and failed to convince the court that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not duly elected as Nigerian President.
However, before we take a look at how the issuance of President Tinubu's Academic Records to Atiku Abubakar may affect the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal at the Supreme Court, let us look at some speculations that surround the academic records of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speculated Discrepancies about Tinubu's Academic Records
There are some discrepancies allegedly detected in the academic records of Bola Ahmed Tinubu received from the Chicago State University and the one he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and these may surely influence the judgment of the Supreme Court of Law. We shall look at some of the speculated discrepancies.
Date of Birth
It was speculated that the academic profile of Bola Tinubu bears a date of birth that is different from the one that is being used by him or the one he submitted to the INEC. The records are being speculated to have shown Bola Ahmed Tinubu with three different dates of birth.
Gender Discrepancy
It was also noticed that gender 'F' was filled in the Admission Application Form of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is referred to as impersonation as some people speculated that Bola Tinubu has used the profile of a female to seek and gain admission into the university.
Variations in the Certificate Formats
It may also interest you to notice that there exist variations in the fonts, format, design, signature, logo, and probably, the paper type used to print the Certificate of the Chicago State University submitted by Bola Tinubu to the INEC and the one issued by the school to Atiku Abubakar.
Having looked at the major discrepancies anyone can reliably point out from the academic records of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as released to Atiku Abubakar by the Chicago State University, we can now take a seat and look at how the documents received by Atiku Abubakar can affect the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and the person of Bola Tinubu.
Previewing the case before the Supreme Court
It is relevant to give kudos to the Appellate Court for the great work the jury did when delivering judgment on the same petition, at their levels. They left no stone unturned, and they gave their ruling in the format that ordinary traders on the markets' streets
could understand that the ruling is explicitly fair and constitutionally backboned.
Notwithstanding, it may interest us to take a quick flashback at what the Petitioner, Atiku Abubakar had in his petition before the court and how the Chicago journey may reshape the Supreme Court case.
Atiku Abubakar had asked the court to depose President Bola Tinubu from office because he was not duly elected. He did not petition the court that Bola Tinubu be found wanting of Certificate Forgery or Impersonation regarding his academic records.
Therefore, it is easily presumable that all the documents received by Atiku Abubakar WILL have no impact on the case before the Supreme Court. This is because he did not have all these allegations in his petition before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal at the level of the Court of Appeal, and his petition at the Supreme Court can never introduce a new entry.
All he is allowed to raise at the Supreme Court are the cases he raised at the Court of Appeal which he seems to have been wrongly adjudged by the Appeal Court Justices.
Although it is simple to disregard all the speculations that people are selling on how the Chicago State University's record of Bola Ahmed Tinubu may affect the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal at the Supreme Court, it is also important to note that even if Atiku Abubakar had included Forgery in his case as the lower court, the Supreme Court will still not deliver the judgment in his favor.
To justify this, let us take a quick look at how each of the speculated discrepancies raised above might have affected the Case if Atiku had had a case concerning Forgery and Impersonation.
Date of Birth
Discrepancies in the Date of Birth of an individual are not enough reason to declare someone impersonal if the age has not violated a gateway. Gateway is considerably a condition set and must be satisfied before an action could be triggered.
In this case, the gateway is that a person will not be viable to contest the Presidential seat of Nigeria if he is below 35.
Looking at the speculated discrepancies in Tinubu's date of birth, they are still in the 1950s. This could be verbally defended and unfortunately majority of the sitting Justices might have gone through the same experience with no motives to cheat on any system.
This is quietly not enough to declare his Chicago State University's certificate forged.
Gender Discrepancy
This is another cheap speculation and it has been disregarded by the Admission Letter issued to Bola Ahmed Tinubu where the Chicago State University addressed to him as "Dear Mr. Tinubu"
If Tinubu had truly used the profile of his sister to gain admission to the Chicago State University, the Admission Letter would have read "Dear Mrs. Tinubu".
Variations in the Certificate Formats
I think this speculation was given a life because of the variation in the educational systems in Nigeria and the United States of America.
Chicago State University stated that it doesn't directly issue College certificates to its students, so the graduates will have to pass through different agents with their independent standards of issuing the certificate to their clients.
All the agents do is collect the student's academic identity number, contact the Chicago State University for authentication if the student truly attended the school, and upon receiving feedback from the university, the agent prepares a certificate using their independent format for the students.
This is simple and will not in any way have an impact on the Supreme Court case, even if Atiku had petitioned the court for Certificate Forgery.
Above all, it could be important to remember the case of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) and University of Ibadan Certificates Forgery against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State.
The discrepancies in his names were sighted by the petitioners but the court ruled in Obaseki's favor because the institutions that awarded the certificates testified to the court that it was the same Obaseki who attended their institutions that is laying claim to the certificates in question. That alone cleared Obaseki and he is in Office winding up his eight-year second term in Office as the Executive Governor of Edo State.
Do not forget that in the Address written by Chicago State University to the Northern District Court of Illinois, the institution clearly stated that the same Bola Tinubu who attended the institution is the one bearing the certificate in question.
This means there is no room to prove a forgery case against him since the institution that awarded the certificate in question has vindicated him.
However, it is not less important to note that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar knew he had nothing to gain, legally from his Chicago State University journey but he might have staged the journey to bring physical damage on Bola Ahmed Tinubu as many people may not have access to the truth about the speculations, and in turn they may erroneously give sympathy to Atiku Abubakar. This could be ascertained by keenly understudying the relevance of the Nationwide Press Release that is organized by Atiku Abubakar where he plans to tender the report of his revelation from Chicago State University. If he had meant the journey to supplement his case at the Supreme Court, he wouldn't have taken to the Press, his case that is hotly standing before the court.
Whether Bola Ahmed Tinubu would respond to the intended damage that Atiku is planning on him or allow him to trend may remain personal to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. However, there may be consequences to this.
Category: World-News
Tag: Tinubu atiku Chicago State University certificate
Written by Omooba Alekuwodo (omoobaalekuwodo)
Published 10/5/2023 1:30:11 PM