Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, national head of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and presidential candidate in Nigeria, apparently attended Chicago State University, which has reportedly acknowledged this.
In an email answer to The Punch’s inquiry on January 25, Beverly Poindexter, who oversees the university’s official transcript requests, enrollment verification, and degree verification at the Office of the Registrar, CSU, reportedly stated as much.
Poindexter wrote:
“Mr Tinubu did attend our university, however, if further information is needed, go to studentclearinghouse.org website to make a formal request.”
It was learned that the institution has previously acknowledged that Tinubu attended there from 1977 to 1979.
Lois Davis, the then-registrar, verified this in a letter dated August 20, 1999.
He wrote:
“Please be advised that Bola A. Tinubu did indeed attend Chicago State University from August 1977 through June 1979. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and Administration with honours on June 22, 1979. His major was Accounting.”
In addition, Tinubu included a letter of recognition from the institution praising his performance and “high scholastic achievement” with a form he filed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2003 when he was running for re-election as Lagos state governor.
For more over ten years, Tinubu’s academic background has generated debate.
Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), a human rights attorney, had also questioned Tinubu’s credentials and had filed a lawsuit against the Nigeria Police Force for neglecting to look into him.
However, Tinubu could not be sued by the police for allegedly forging certificates, the Supreme Court concluded in its decision on May 10, 2002.
The supreme court also found that Tinubu was entitled to immunity at the time of the alleged certificate fraud, therefore Gani could not order the IGP to look into it.
After Tinubu declared his intention in running for president in 2023, the question recently came up again.