Chicago State University has testified that Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu presented a forged degree certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during his filing for the Nigerian presidency in June 2022. The school officials rejected Tinubu’s certificate, the sole academic qualification he provided to the electoral office, during a deposition that lasted approximately 5.5 hours.
Caleb Westberg, the registrar at Chicago State University, stated that the certificate dated June 22, 1979, presented to INEC on June 17, 2022, was not issued by the university, and its source could not be authenticated by the school administrators. Westberg further mentioned that Tinubu had not applied for a replacement certificate and had never been issued one.
This testimony follows a ruling by Federal District Judge Nancy Maldonado, granting an order for CSU administrators to provide all documents related to Tinubu and undergo deposition by a legal team representing Atiku Abubakar of the People Democratic Party (PDP). Despite Tinubu’s efforts to prevent the proceedings, the school’s inability to authenticate his submitted certificate could have significant implications for Nigeria’s population of over 200 million.
- The collected records, deposition, and other materials obtained through the U.S. legal system are being prepared for submission to the Nigeria Supreme Court. A final decision on the presidential election challenge is expected on or before December 6, 2023.
