Chicago State University (CSU) on Monday evening released academic records of President Bola Tinubu to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Bellnews reports that the documents confirm that Tinubu did attend CSU and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Honours.
However, the documents also raise several questions than answers.
The discrepancies in the documents made public
There is more than one discrepancy in the documents released by Chicago University. For example, Tinubu’s replacement certificate, dated June 27, 1997, is missing the year “1867” from the logo, which appears on all other certificates issued by CSU during that period.
Additionally, the words “With Honours” are included in Tinubu’s certificate underneath “Business Administration”, but none of the other samples provided by CSU show those words underneath the course of study.
Another discrepancy is that Tinubu’s undergraduate admissions application has a different date of birth than his academic records. The application lists his date of birth as March 29, 1955, while his academic records list his date of birth as March 29, 1954. To raise more questions than answers, it can be recalled that the document he tendered to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows that the Nigerian leader was born on March 29, 1952, making him officially 71. This means that President Tinubu, as of today, can be 68, 69, or 71 years old.
Finally, CSU’s records show that the Bola Tinubu who attended the institution is male, but he did so by tendering a woman’s documents. A certificate from Southwest College shows that Tinubu’s sex is listed as female.
Overall, the documents released by CSU raise more questions than answers about Tinubu’s educational background. The discrepancies in his certificate and the fact that he used a woman’s documents to gain admission to CSU cast doubt on his honesty.
Verdict: Even though the documents from Chicago State University indeed confirmed that Tinubu attended the university, they also show Tinubu has been dishonest in his claims about his age, gender and replacement certificate.