Caleb Westberg, Chicago State University’s (CSU) Registrar says the institution never issued a replacement certificate to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 1997.
This rebuttal contradicts reports by several media platforms which posited that a diploma was reissued to the President in 1997.
Recall that as requested by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Judge Nancy Maldonado of the United States (US) District Court for the Northern District of Illinois directed CSU officials to provide Tinubu’s records and avail themselves for deposition to authenticate them on Tuesday.
Westberg attested under oath that the institution did not award the June 22, 1979 certificate the Nigerian leader submitted to Nigeria’s electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission on June 17, 2022.
According to the Registrar, Tinubu did not apply for a replacement certificate, nor was he ever issued one.
He clarified that the June 27, 1997 date was only a typographical error in Tinubu’s replacement certificate which was issued to Nigerian lawyer Mike Enahoro-Ebah in an earlier subpoena filed in August 2022.
When asked whether he meant to write “1979” instead of the “1997” date on the replacement certificate issued to Enahoro-Ebah, he said: “That is correct, I’ll state on the record as the author that is my typo.”
READ ALSO: ‘Tinubu’s CSU Certificate Not Fake, You Can Only Forge What You Don’t Have’ – Presidency
Giving clarification on why several news outlets gave false reports on the certificate replacement before deposition, an outlet told Peoples Gazette that Tinubu’s lawyer, Oluwole Afolabi, gave them the information.
Since Afolabi was directly involved in the case as the President’s legal counsel, the platform noted they had no reason to doubt the information.
The release of documents that were unauthenticated by CSU before deposition is however projected to endanger Afolabi’s legal practice in the U.S.
Also, Westberg, in his deposition, submitted that there are numerous companies that specialise in the business of forgery – which may connote that Tinubu patronised forgers for the diploma he presented to the electoral umpire .
Meanwhile, during an international press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku, 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), emphasized the potential impact on Nigeria’s reputation due to the controversy surrounding Tinubu’s certificate.
Atiku further called on the pertinent stakeholders to uphold democratic principles by ascertaining the authenticity of the certificate presented by Tinubu to INEC.
“The reputation of our country is at stake and that affects Nigerians everywhere and wherever they may be.” Atiku said.
