World Press Conference: Atiku Addresses Tinubu’s Certificate Saga

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, is scheduled to hold a world press conference today, Thursday, October 5, 2023. This conference comes amidst the ongoing allegations of a fake certificate against President Bola Tinubu.

The press conference announcement was made by Mr. Dele Momodu, one of the spokespersons for Atiku, via Twitter on Wednesday, October 4, 2023.

Mr. Momodu stated that the conference would be “streamed on his social media platforms and be covered live by both International and Local Media Agencies.

While the specific agenda of Atiku’s press conference has not been disclosed, it is likely to be related to the alleged fake certificate of President Tinubu. This allegation has been the subject of legal dispute between President Tinubu and Atiku, his political rival.

Following his defeat in the 2023 presidential election to Tinubu in February, Atiku took the matter to court to challenge Tinubu’s victory at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

In September, the court dismissed Atiku’s petitions and upheld Tinubu’s election victory. One of Atiku’s dismissed petitions against Tinubu focused on the allegation that the President had forged his Chicago State University certificate.

Subsequently, Atiku continued his legal case in the US court in a bid to obtain official documents to support his claims against Tinubu. Simultaneously, he approached the Supreme Court for a final ruling on the February 25 presidential election.

The legal battle between Atiku and Tinubu concerning the academic records of the President at Chicago State University has garnered significant attention in Nigeria in recent days.

Despite the issue dominating headlines and social media trends, Atiku had remained relatively quiet. However, with the announcement of his world press conference scheduled for today, Nigerians are eager to hear what the former Vice President has to say.

Recall that Tinubu’s academic records were released following a request by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who contested against Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform.

However, The US district court for the northern district of Illinois granted Atiku’s requests over the weekend.

Atiku requested the documents from the university to support the allegation that Tinubu forged his academic certificate with the hope that if the allegation is successfully proven, Tinubu’s election would be honed on forgery grounds.

Nevertheless, Tinubu had previously claimed to have lost the original certificate that the university issued him, he claimed to have requested a replacement for the lost certificate in 1997, which he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 elections.

To confirm the integrity of his claim, Atiku, requests the institution to produce a copy of the certificates awarded to students in 1997.

Some other documents requested by Atiku include Tinubu’s admission and acceptance records at CSU, dates of attendance, degree certificates, awards, and honors received at the institution.

Notwithstanding, on Monday, October 2, 2023, the university produced three out of the four sets of documents Atiku’s legal team requested.

The documents contained Tinubu’s admission records, and a letter confirming his attendance at the university from August 1977 to June 1979.

The letter above dated June 27, 2022, by the CSU confirms Tinubu’s studentship at the university.

In response to Atiku’s third request regarding alleged discrepancies in Tinubu’s certificate(s), the university said, “The documents responsive to this request which CSU, after diligent search, has been able to locate are produced herewith and Bates labeled CSU 0008 through CSU 0010.

“The students’ names on these diplomas have been redacted for privacy reasons.

“CSU is also producing, Bates labeled as CSU 0011 and CSU 0012, diplomas prepared for other CSU students (with their names redacted for privacy) which match the format of the Tinubu replacement diploma dated June 27, 1997.”