A Federal High Court in Kano has fixed September 21 for mention of a suit seeking to stop President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from contesting the 2027 presidential election over allegations surrounding his academic credentials.
The suit, filed by the Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFRPA), is asking the court to disqualify Tinubu from the 2027 race on the grounds that he allegedly presented forged academic credentials from Chicago State University (CSU) and a fake National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2023 election.
The case, marked FHC/K/CS/312/2026, has already drawn the controversy over Tinubu’s educational records back into the spotlight, with the parties having filed their respective processes ahead of the September 21 proceedings.
Tinubu, INEC and Chicago State University are joined as defendants.
THE CERTIFICATE CONTROVERSY
The latest lawsuit comes against the backdrop of years of controversy over Tinubu’s educational history, particularly the documents he submitted to INEC at different times.
Questions over his credentials date back to his 1999 bid for the Lagos governorship, when allegations were raised over discrepancies in his educational history, including claims concerning schools he listed and his date of birth. Tinubu later said some of his academic certificates had been stolen during his period of self-exile between 1994 and 1998.
The controversy resurfaced with greater force ahead of the 2023 presidential election after Tinubu submitted a Chicago State University certificate to INEC.
Critics and political opponents subsequently pointed to differences between the certificate attached to his INEC nomination documents and records released by CSU.
Among the issues raised was the difference in the dates on two versions of the certificate — June 22, 1979, and June 27, 1979 — as well as differences in logos, signatures, wording and fonts.
Another major controversy centred on Tinubu’s NYSC discharge certificate. Atiku Abubakar’s lawyer, Kalu Kalu, alleged in 2023 that the document submitted to INEC carried the name “Bola Adekunle Tinubu”, rather than Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Questions were also raised over records linked to Tinubu’s admission into CSU. Critics highlighted a Southwest College transcript bearing the name “Tinubu Bola A” and marked female, as well as an admission record stating that the student had attended Government College, Lagos and graduated in 1970 — a claim critics said did not correspond with the history of the school.
There were also allegations concerning differences in the year of birth contained in various records. A 2022 complaint, for instance, alleged that CSU records indicated 1954 while Tinubu’s sworn INEC Form EC-9 gave 1952.
CSU: TINUBU REALLY GRADUATED
Despite the controversies, Chicago State University has repeatedly maintained that Tinubu was its student and graduated from the institution in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree.
In an official statement, the university said it was confident in the veracity and integrity of its records concerning Tinubu’s attendance and completion of his graduation requirements.
CSU also confirmed that Tinubu attended the university and graduated in 1979, while explaining that US federal privacy law restricted what it could disclose about his records without consent or a court order.
However, the controversy was not completely extinguished because, during the US court proceedings in 2023, the university’s registrar said CSU could not authenticate the specific diploma Tinubu submitted to INEC because the document was not in the university’s possession. Reports from the proceedings said the university could confirm Tinubu’s graduation but could not independently certify that particular copy of the diploma.
The issue became a major part of Atiku’s legal challenge after a US court ordered CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records.
The university subsequently turned over the requested documents and made an administrator available for deposition. CSU said the US proceeding had been concluded and maintained that it was confident in the integrity of its records on Tinubu’s attendance and graduation.
Tinubu and his lawyers have consistently rejected allegations of certificate forgery and other wrongdoing.
The fresh Kano suit now seeks to revive the certificate controversy in Nigeria ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with the Federal High Court expected to hear from the parties when the matter comes up on September 21.
