The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu has informed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that while he was on self-exile, unidentified individuals stole his academic credentials.
The former Lagos State Governor, was one of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) Chieftains who fled the country under the regime of the late General Sani Abacha.
Academics, activists, and other technocrats opposing Abacha’s dictatorship had faced harsh repression.
In his sworn affidavit in support of 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.”
According to Tinubu, he obtained a B.Sc. in Economics at the University of Chicago between 1972 and 1976, while he omitted information about his primary and secondary education from the INEC form.
In addition, he claimed to hold a certificate in public accounting and a B.Sc. in business and administration.
Tinubu’s most recent assertions appear to be at odds with his prior election submissions particularly in 1999, when he ran and won the Lagos State governorship election
He had previously stated that he received his primary education at St. Paul Children’s Home School in Ibadan from 1958 to 1964 and his secondary education at Government College Ibadan (GCI) from 1965 to 1968.
After he was criticized, the former governor withheld his academic records from his primary and secondary schools when he recontested in 2003.
He stated that from Ibadan, he went on to Richard Daley College, Chicago, from 1969 to 1971 adding that he attended both Chicago State University and the University of Chicago.
A prominent Nigerian lawyer, late Gani Fawehinmi had challenges all the submissions then claiming it was fraudulent.
Fawehinmi, who argued the matter up to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the case on technical grounds.
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in his forms presented the Master’s degree he obtained in 2021, as his highest educational qualification.