My academic certificates were stolen by unknown persons, Tinubu tells INEC

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election, has told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that his academic certificates were stolen by some 'unknown persons'.

The former Lagos State Governor said the incident happened when he was on self exile.

Recall that Tinubu, alongside other chieftains of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) fled the country to evade the persecution of the military government headed by the late General Sani Abacha.

Abacha had deployed gruesome tactics in clamping down on activists, including students and technocrats opposed to his regime.

In the affidavit he sworn to support his nomination form for the office of the president, Tinubu said he “went on self exile from October 1994 to October 1999 (and) when I returned and discovered that my property including all the documents relating to my qualification and my certificates in respect of paragraph 3 above were looted by unknown persons.”

The ruling party presidential candidate, who failed to provide information regarding his primary and secondary education in the INEC form, stated that he attended University of Chicago between 1972 and 1976, where he obtained B.Sc in Economics.

The form also showed that he obtained B.Sc in Business and Administration, as well as certificate in Public Account.

Tinubu's latest claims appear to be in contradiction with the submission he made to INEC when he ran and won the Lagos State governorship election in 1999.

The former governor had stated that he attended St Paul Children’s Home School, Ibadan, between 1958 and 1964 before proceeding to Government College Ibadan (GCI), between 1965 and 1968 for his secondary education.

The ensuing backlash forced Tinubu to withdraw his primary and secondary schools academic records during his second term bid in 2003.