Nigeria's main opposition party has taken a significant step in its efforts to challenge the validity of this year's presidential election. They claim to possess new evidence suggesting that the declared winner, President Bola Tinubu, submitted fraudulent academic credentials to the authorities.
At a recent press briefing, Atiku Abubakar, the first runner-up in the election, and his legal team asserted that President Tinubu presented a forged diploma from an American university to Nigeria's election commission ahead of the February vote. They supported their claims with records obtained from the university during a U.S. court hearing, which they also shared with The Associated Press.
In addition to the alleged diploma forgery, Abubakar has previously argued that Tinubu should not hold the presidency due to irregularities in the election announcement and questions regarding Tinubu's eligibility, including allegations of dual citizenship and a criminal indictment in the United States. Tinubu has vehemently denied these allegations, with his spokesperson asserting, "A man cannot forge the academic records he possesses," on social media.
This legal challenge is drawing significant attention from the Nigerian public, especially after a highly divisive election in which Tinubu secured victory with less than 50% of the votes, marking a historic first in Nigeria's electoral history. Abubakar is one of three candidates pursuing legal action to invalidate Tinubu's election.
Kalu Kalu, Abubakar's legal representative, has stated that they plan to introduce "fresh evidence" in the ongoing case before Nigeria's Supreme Court, emphasizing that someone at fault should not benefit from their wrongdoing.
It's worth noting that no presidential election in Nigeria has ever been nullified.
Abubakar's legal team achieved a crucial breakthrough in their challenge when they obtained an order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, compelling Chicago State University, where Tinubu studied, to release his academic records.
During a recent deposition shared with the press, Caleb Westberg, the university's registrar, confirmed the existence of Bola Tinubu's original records but couldn't authenticate the diploma presented to the Nigerian election commission, which claimed Tinubu graduated in 1979. Westberg stated that they lacked the authority to verify the authenticity of the diploma, as it was not in their possession.
In sum, Abubakar's legal team believes they have made significant progress in their case, obtaining crucial educational records that could shed light on the authenticity of President Tinubu's academic qualifications. This situation is reminiscent of past allegations of forgery against Nigerian leaders, such as Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu's predecessor, though those allegations were never substantiated.