By Ayodele Oni
The Presidency has debunked claims that the certificate presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by President Bola Tinubu to be able to contest the 2023 presidency was forged.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, who issued a statement regarding the controversy on Wednesday said there is nowhere in the deposition made by the Chicago State University (CSU) did the institution admit that the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is fake.
He argued further that the University affirmed under oath that Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution and that the school does not handle replacements for lost certificates.
His rebuttal comes amidst reports that the Chicago State University has said in the testimony of the institution that the Nigerian President presented a forged degree certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when he filed his paperwork to lead Nigeria in June 2022.
Also Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) insisted that Tinubu’s certificate submitted to the electoral umpire was forged.
However, Ajayi in his submission said there is no truth in such claims as no man can forge a certificate he already possesses and it is only what you don’t have that you forge.
Taking to his account on the X micro-blogging platform, the presidential media aide wrote: “We should be clear.
“In the deposition made by the Chicago State University, there was nowhere the University said the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is fake.
“The University insisted under oath that President Tinubu graduated with honours and even at that, replacements for lost certificates are done by vendors not the University.
“The claim that President Tinubu submitted fake certificate to INEC does not make sense. A man can not forge the academic records he possesses. You can only forge what you don’t have.”
But Atiku’s aide said documents released by Chicago State University, alongside President Bola Tinubu’s academic records, indicate Nigeria’s leader submitted a fake certificate to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, in a statement, said: “The samples of redacted certificates handed to us by CSU show that the one submitted to INEC by Tinubu was indeed a forgery, and this will be made known during the deposition, which will be done under oath.”
 by President Bola Tinubu to be able to contest the 2023 presidency was forged.){kind=link}