2023 Polls: Tinubu Campaign Organisation Slams Group Over Alleged Academic Scam

• Describes noisemakers are PDP agents

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Dragged to the public space by the Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CRPA) over alleged shadowy educational qualifications, the Campaign Organisation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate for the 2023 Presidential Election, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has dismissed the claims as pedestal and a non issue.

Describing the allegations as untrue and laughable, Director, Media and Communications of the organisation, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said it is unfortunate that the group decided to foul the political air with a non issue and irrelevancy.

He said the allegations levelled against their principal are imaginary and they have nothing to hide because the APC standard bearer is more than qualified to be Nigeria’s president.

The Media and Communication Director explained that contrary to some media reports, the former governor did not submit any fake certificate to the electoral umpire in 1999 as alleged in certain quarters.

According to him, the one (certificate) people keep referring to was not even filled or submitted then by the APC candidate, recalling that the Lagos State House of Assembly had exonerated him (Tinubu) in its report on that contentious matter.

Onanuga, who was responding to the Civil right group’s claims of giving the Inspector General (I-G) of Police a 48- hour ultimatum to arrest and initiate criminal prosecution against Tinubu for allegedly supplying false academic qualifications to secure nomination, said; “Asiwaju was exonerated in the House of Assembly’s report because Senator Afikuyomi said he filled the form on his behalf then.

“The same certificate he gave to INEC this year, he used in 2003 and there was no issue then. Why are they raising issues now?

“And what people don’t know is that when he was on exile, his house at Balarabe Musa Crescent in Victoria Island was burnt by the military and he couldn’t pick out a pin from the razed building.

“This was what happened that time and if in 2022, he (Tinubu) now drew blank on that session, what offence has he committed?”

Onanuga slammed the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as engineering the current smear campaign, saying; “Those making noise are PDP agents who are just trying to raise issues where there is none.

“Already we know that the people making noise are PDP agents. They cannot just be coming out to raise issues where there are non-issues.

The campaign spokesman maintained that “He (Tinubu) is more than qualified to be president of Nigeria.”

The civil right group had on Saturday in Abuja said it had given the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police a 48- hour ultimatum to arrest and initiate criminal prosecution against Tinubu for allegedly supplying false academic qualifications to secure nomination.

The Group’s Legal Adviser, Mr Kalu Agu, said should the Police boss fail to act, they are set to institute a court action against him (the I-G) for an order of mandamus compelling w him to effect the arrest of APC candidate when the ultimatum expires.

Agu is alleging that the former Lagos State governor was not legally qualified to become the next president of Nigeria on account of supplying false information on oath, in his Form EC9 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He said in 1999, Tinubu claimed to have attended Saint Paul Aroloya Children Home School, Ibadan between 1958 and 1964 and Government College Ibadan, between 1965 and 1969, only to turn around in 2022 that he never attended any primary or secondary school in his EC9 form.

The lawyer said the petition calling for Tinubu’s arrest and prosecution was submitted to the I-G on June 16, but lamented that the police authority has refused to effect the arrest of the politician for some obvious reasons.

Dismissing insinuations that their position is politically motivated, Agu said the group will not compromise good governance and transparent leadership which Nigeria deserves come 2023 general elections. – With additional reports from NAN