President Bola Tinubu has claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for 2023, Atiku Abubakar, used forged primary and secondary school certificates to run in the last election.
Tinubu accused Abubakar of presenting forged credentials to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before of the presidential election in a counter-affidavit filed at the Supreme Court on Thursday, October 12, 2023.
Tinubu alleged that the PDP candidate bore “Atiku Kojoli” on his elementary school certificate and “Siddiq Abubakar” on his 1965 West African School Certificate and General Certificate of Examination (WASSCE), according to an affidavit filed by his main counsel, Wole Olanikepun (SAN).
Tinubu Accused of Presenting Forged Certificate by Chicago State University
Tinubu further said that the anomalies in the names on the former Vice President’s primary and secondary school certificates provided no guarantee that he was the man he claimed to be.
He added: “It is the 1st appellant’s acclaimed primary school certificate bearing the name “Atiku Kojoli” and his purported 1965 West African School Certificate and General Certificate of Examination bearing the name “Siddiq Abubakar” (as opposed to the name “Atiku Abubakar”, which he claims to Nigerians and INEC to be his) that are yet to be explained by Jeda Primary School Adamawa (which he claimed to have attended), the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, West African Examination Council or such other credible institution with the capacity to so do.
“Now shown to me, attached hereto and marked as Exhibit 9, is a copy of the said Siddiq Abubakar’s 1965 West African School Certificate and General Certificate of Examination, submitted by the 1st appellant.”
On October 5, Abubakar moved the Supreme Court to introduce new evidence of forgery, which included a deposition of Chicago State University (CSU) registrar Caleb Westberg, who stated that he could not authenticate the certificate Tinubu presented to INEC because the institution did not issue it.
Tinubu Asks Supreme Court To Discard Chicago State University’s Deposition
However, Tinubu’s legal team is vehemently contesting the move, seeking that the Supreme stage rule exclusively on evidence admitted in the first stage of trial, where the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal dismissed all of Abubakar’s petitions in September.
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