Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that he didn’t attend Primary and Secondary schools.
The former Lagos State Governor has also raised the bar, saying he had two degrees from two American universities but which he further claimed were stolen by Unknown Soldiers during the era of military rule in Nigeria in the 1990s.
Tinubu’s submissions came to the fore in an affidavit he submitted to INEC as part of his eligibility filings to contest for the 2023 presidential election.
The latest claims by the APC presidential candidate contradicts his previous election submissions, especially in 1999 and 2003 when he ran for office as Governor of Lagos State.
The INEC documents released on Friday showed that Tinubu left the columns for his Primary and Secondary Schools education sections unmarked.
But he said he obtained a degree in Business and Administration in 1979, apparently referring to his previous claims of attending the Chicago State University.
The electoral law mandates candidates to submit their personal credentials that will be published for public scrutiny ahead of elections.
In the filings for the 1999 and 2003 Governorship elections, Tinubu claimed he attended Primary and Secondary Schools.
The filings claimed he attended St Paul Children’s Home School, Ibadan, between 1958 and 1964; while his secondary education was at Government College, Ibadan, between 1965 and 1968.
From Ibadan, Tinubu said he proceed to Richard Daley College, Chicago, from 1969 to 1971.
He stated finally to have attended both Chicago State University and the University of Chicago.
The Chicago State University confirmed Mr Tinubu as its student, graduating with a degree in Business and Administration on June 22, 1979.
All the submissions were however challenged as fraudulent by a prominent Nigerian lawyer, late Chief Gani Fawehinmi.
Fawehinmi, 1938-2009, argued the matter up to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the case on technical grounds rather than on its merits.
Ikenga Ugochinyere, a political activist in Abuja, said he would challenge Tinubu’s filings in court, accusing him of having committed perjury.
Tinubu “commits perjury as he abandons his earlier claim of attending primary school, sworn in an affidavit to run for governor but now claims not to have attended primary school,” Ugochinyere said in a statement.
His “new forms contradict his 2007 affidavit that he has Primary School and Secondary.”
A spokesperson for Mr Tinubu did not return a request seeking comments about the alleged discrepancies in his submissions to the electoral commission.
Originally published in Peoples Gazette