In a recent twist of events, allegations circulating on social media that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s academic records were forged have been debunked by the BBC’s Global Disinformation Team.
The claims gained traction after Chicago State University (CSU) released the President’s academic records.
The release of these academic documents marked the culmination of a legal case initiated in August by President Tinubu’s main rival in the presidential election, Atiku Abubakar. Atiku Abubakar had alleged that President Tinubu falsified his CSU diploma in Business Administration from 1979, which he submitted to the electoral authority (Inec).
To gather evidence for his case, Atiku Abubakar sought the assistance of a US court in compelling CSU to release President Tinubu’s academic records. Despite objections from President Tinubu’s lawyers, the US court ruled in favor of the discovery process.
The documents requested by Atiku Abubakar included copies of diplomas similar to President Tinubu’s issued by CSU, as well as documents certified by a CSU staff member, Jamar Orr, within 12 months from August 1, 2022.
In response to these requests, CSU provided seven diplomas from various disciplines with student names redacted, and these diplomas had not been collected by the students. Regarding President Tinubu’s 1979 diploma, CSU stated they could not find a copy as they do not retain diplomas collected by students. They did provide a replacement diploma issued to President Tinubu on June 27, 1979, as well as similar diplomas issued to other students.
In a deposition, Caleb Westberg, CSU’s current registrar, affirmed that President Tinubu’s diploma resembled three diplomas issued by CSU in the 1990s. Mr. Westberg explained that CSU had updated its diploma template several times over the years. Therefore, any request for a new diploma would reflect the template used at the time of the request.
In summary, the social media allegations were based on a comparison between the diploma President Tinubu submitted to Inec and the 1979 diplomas from CSU. While the diploma in question did not resemble the 1979 samples, it closely matched the diplomas issued by CSU in the 1990s.
The discrepancy in appearance was attributed to the diploma being reissued in the 1990s, and CSU does not keep records of when a graduate requests a reissued diploma. Additionally, the missing part of the university logo on the photocopy of the diploma was explained as a possible result of the photocopying process.
This investigation by the BBC’s Global Disinformation Team has not found any evidence to support claims of forgery in President Tinubu’s academic records.
