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Chicagogate: Nigerians return to court! *Move to stop Tinubu from 2027 polls
Nigerians seem unrelenting in ascertaining the true status of the educational qualification of President Bola Tinubu, going by a fresh petition before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), currently seeking that much.
Center for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFRPA), the Civil Society Organisation (CSO), which is pushing the new initiative, is asking the commission to provide the educational data with which the President secured clearance to contest the 2023 presidential election.
In a petition, dated June 19, by Kalu Agu, the group is specifically seeking INEC’s clarification on the authenticity or otherwise of the Chicago State University’s certificate President Tinubu included with his form.
Recalling how the President had claimed to have attended Government College Lagos in 1960 and graduated in May 1970, even though the school was established in 1974, the petitioners expressed concern that the primary and secondary school certificates being paraded used to secure admission to Chicago State University, might have been forged, hence the need for clarification by INEC.
Urging the INEC Joash Amupitan, himself a Professor of Law and a well-respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), to use his wealth of experience and knowledge to resolve the lingering issue, they insisted that the clarity around the President’s eligibility, was central to his contest in the 2027 presidential election.
Stressing that INEC making the clarifications had become imperative, in view of the legal implications of forged certificates in relation to Section 137(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Section 285(14), which envisaged the power of the Commission to disqualify candidates for election who are ineligible, they threatened to initiate an action against the commission should it fail to act accordingly.
The petition read: “We are a non-profit, pro-democracy, human rights, anti-corruption and public interest advocacy organisation in Nigeria. In line with our objectives, we respectfully wish to bring to your notice the fake Chicago State University certificate and forged National Youth Service Corps Discharge Certificate presented to the Commission by President Bola A. Tinubu to aid his qualification for the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria.
“The said certificates, which formed part of President Bola A. Tinubu’s INEC Form EC9, are hereby annexed and marked as ‘Exhibit INEC. It will be recalled that in 2023, an American court, in a discovery case — particularly In re: Application of Atiku Abubakar (No. 23 CV 05099), coram Honourable Nancy L. Maldonado — directed Chicago State University to release academic records of President Bola A. Tinubu to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“The said academic records are hereby annexed and marked as ‘Exhibit CSU’. Upon release of the said academic records, the following was discovered: that President Bola A. Tinubu: “Made false entries on his Chicago State University admission form, wherein he claimed that he attended Government College Lagos in 1960 and graduated in May 1970, when indeed Government College Lagos was established in 1974;
“Forged a University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate General Certificate of Education in 1970. Please see pages CSU 0022 and CSU 0024 of ‘Exhibit CSU’.
“It is on the basis of the foregoing that we respectfully write to you requesting a legal clarification of the effects of President Bola A. Tinubu’s certificate, obtained by fraud from Chicago State University, and his forged NYSC Discharge Certificate, on President Bola A. Tinubu’s 2027 presidential bid.
“It is worthy of note that we have written to the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, requesting that the NYSC issue a disclaimer on the forged NYSC Discharge Certificate that President Bola A. Tinubu is parading as genuine.
“Attached are copies of the said letters, marked as ‘Exhibit Letters’. As a Professor of Law and a well-respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, it is imperative that you use your wealth of experience and knowledge to resolve this lingering issue surrounding the ineligibility of President Bola A. Tinubu to contest the 2027 presidential election, considering the legal implications of the above-named forged certificates he submitted to INEC in 2023, in relation to Section 137(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), as well as Section 285(14) of the said Constitution, which envisages the power of the Commission to disqualify candidates for election who are ineligible.
“This is a litmus test for you, to determine how neutral you will be in the conduct of future elections in Nigeria.
“TAKE NOTICE that, in the event you fail to make INEC’s legal position public on this request, we will initiate legal action to stop INEC from receiving and/or accepting the name of President Bola A. Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the APC, as he has no other academic certificate to present to INEC, since President Bola A. Tinubu does not have any primary or secondary school certificates.
“We are hopeful that you will heed our request and allow wise counsel to prevail in the circumstances. INEC is constitutionally and statutorily mandated to regulate the activities of political parties in Nigeria and conduct elections into elective offices, which includes accepting and/or granting access codes to political parties to upload candidates’ names into the INEC online portal.
“By virtue of Section 137(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), any candidate who presents a forged certificate to INEC is not qualified to contest for the office of President of Nigeria.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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