Highlights from the NADECO USA Conference on Credibility of Tinubu’s Academic claims can be read below.
Newsonline Nigeria reports that the United States chapter of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO USA), Nigeria’s foremost pro-democracy pressure group, made a statement on the credibility of some of President Bola Tinubu’s claims to an American university degree.
This Nigeria news platform understands that NADECO USA asked some questions about Tinubu’s stay in the US and his education at Chicago State University (CSU) on Monday.
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Newsonline Nigeria highlights the key questions raised, and the demands made by the pro-democracy group’s American chapter:
WHO ISSUED TINUBU’S DUPLICATE DIPLOMA?
Tinubu’s CSU certificate with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) raised eyebrows after questions were asked about its authenticity.
A deposition from Carl Westberg, CSU’s registrar, proved that the certificate Tinubu gave to INEC was not from the university. This prompted accusations that Tinubu illegally duplicated the certificate and presented a forged document to Nigeria’s electoral commission as a candidate vying for public office.
“If so, who issued the diploma, and where did Mr. Tinubu obtain the diploma from? Why did CSU not issue a diploma certificate to a student the school claimed graduated from CSU? Could Chicago State University have issued a certificate to a student who has not met or satisfied the required credits for graduation?” NADECO USA asked.
While some of the president’s supporters have produced the theory that Tinubu got the certificate from a third-party vendor, Tinubu’s team is yet to provide the source of the diploma.
DID TINUBU COMPLETE CREDIT HOURS NEEDED TO GRADUATE FROM CSU? WHEN DID HE COMPLETE THEM?
“Based on the pertinent portions of the transcripts obtained during the deposition of CSU Registrar, Mr. Westberg, the University authority admitted that Bola A. Tinubu with Social Security Number: 231-06-0595, who attended CSU, had completed a total of 105 credit hours and needed to have completed an additional 15 credit hours in order to graduate. Those classes included but were not limited to English 222 and Mathematics,” NADECO stated.
“Did Bola A. Tinubu eventually complete those 15 credit hours, and if he did, when did he take them?”
In the US, university students need a certain number of academic credits to graduate their academic programme. The credits will also determine if a student needs to take a preparation programme to meet their bachelor or master’s degree admission requirements.
WHY DOES TINUBU’S SCHOOL DOCUMENTS HAVE DIFFERENT SSNs?
The transcripts from South West College had a different SSN from Tinubu’s. Those transcripts were used to corroborate Tinubu’s admission to CSU as an undergraduate.
NADECO USA asked the administration of CSU to explain why the academic documents presented as Tinubu’s contained different SSNs when one person could have only one SSN to their name.
“The Chicago State University (CSU) should explain why he has two Social Security numbers,” NADECO stated.
“As if that was not confusing enough, it has been confirmed that one of the Social Security numbers, 231-06-0595, originally issued in the State of Virginia is currently being used by someone else, a female.”
NADECO’s MESSAGE TO THE FBI
In light of the contradictory circumstances surrounding Tinubu’s claims, NADECO has asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US to initiate investigations into Tinubu’s time in the US, his scholarship and possible donations he made to CSU.
The coalition also asked the current board of directors at CSU to do the same.
“The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should also initiate an investigation regarding the same concerns raised,” NADECO USA said.
“We would also like a clarification from the FBI about a letter making the rounds that purports to have been issued by the FBI in response to Nigeria’s Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) inquiry as to whether Mr. Tinubu attended Chicago State University (CSU).
“According to the letter from the FBI office, Mr. Tinubu did neither attend nor graduate from CSU. Kindly reconcile the CSU position that Mr Tinubu attended CSU versus yours which states that he did not.
“NADECO USA would like the FBI to find out if Mr. Tinubu had in the past several years made any donations to Chicago State University (CSU) directly or through third parties. This question is important to the extent that we would like to know if there were some monetary or other inducements made to CSU aimed at securing certain privileges from CSU.
“NADECO USA would also like the FBI and the Social Security Administration to determine how a Social Security number belonging to another person began to be used by Mr. Tinubu. The issue is, whether it is a matter of identity theft or, was the original owner of the number aware that her Social Security number was being used by another person? If SSN: 231-06-0595 is not President Tinubu’s, what is his true social security number and under what name is it under?
“Who actually owns the social security number 231-06-0595 written on the transcripts that the Chicago State University registrar used as an exhibit that was attached to the deposition given under oath?”
A final the demand from NADECO USA was for the United States university accreditation bodies to provide oversight to the investigations CSU was facilitating on Tinubu.
