{"id":99383,"date":"2026-06-22T10:58:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=99383"},"modified":"2026-06-22T10:59:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:59:52","slug":"99383","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=99383","title":{"rendered":"2027: Fresh Questions Emerge Over Tinubu’s Chicago State University Certificate as Group Petitions INEC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u25cf Seeks Clarification on President’s Eligibility<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Yemi Oyeyemi<\/strong>, Abuja<\/p>\n

Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, the Center for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFRPA) has revived concerns over the authenticity of the Chicago State University certificate submitted by President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 general election.<\/p>\n

The civil society organization has formally written to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, requesting clarification on the status of the degree certificate claimed by the President and previously submitted to the electoral body.<\/p>\n

In a letter addressed to the INEC Chairman, the group urged the Commission to provide a clear legal position on the matter, arguing that doing so would help strengthen public confidence in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 elections.<\/p>\n

According to the group, INEC has a responsibility to ensure that only eligible candidates participate in elections and to prevent individuals with questionable credentials from occupying public office.<\/p>\n

The letter, dated June 19, 2026, was signed by the group’s Head of Legal Unit, Barrister Kalu Agu, and was received at INEC’s headquarters in Abuja on the same day.<\/p>\n

Among its claims, the CFRPA alleged that President Tinubu stated in documents submitted to Chicago State University that he attended Government College Lagos from 1960 and graduated in 1970, despite the institution reportedly being established in 1974.<\/p>\n

Based on this claim, the group argued that questions remain regarding the authenticity of the educational records presented by the President and called on INEC to clarify its position.<\/p>\n

The organization further urged the INEC Chairman, whom it described as a respected Professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), to address what it termed a lingering controversy over the President’s eligibility to contest future elections.<\/p>\n

According to the group, the issue has constitutional implications, particularly in relation to Section 137(1)(g) and Section 285(14) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which address qualifications for public office and the Commission’s powers regarding candidate eligibility.<\/p>\n

The CFRPA warned that if INEC fails to publicly clarify its position, it may pursue legal action to compel the Commission to respond.<\/p>\n

In the letter, the group stated:<\/p>\n

“We are a non-profit, pro-democracy, human rights, anti-corruption and public interest advocacy organization in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

“In line with our objectives, we respectfully wish to bring to your attention issues concerning the Chicago State University certificate and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate submitted by President Bola A. Tinubu to INEC as part of his qualification documents for the 2023 presidential election.<\/p>\n

“It will be recalled that an American court, in the matter of In Re: Application of Atiku Abubakar (No. 23 CV 05099), directed Chicago State University to release certain academic records relating to President Tinubu.<\/p>\n

“Following the release of those records, concerns arose regarding information contained in the President’s admission documents, including references to Government College Lagos and other educational credentials.”<\/p>\n

The group said it has also written to the Director-General of the NYSC and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, seeking official clarification regarding the President’s NYSC discharge certificate.<\/p>\n

The letter further stated:<\/p>\n

“As a Professor of Law and a respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria, we believe it is important for the Commission to clarify its legal position on the implications of these allegations in relation to President Tinubu’s potential participation in the 2027 presidential election.<\/p>\n

“Should INEC decline to make its position public, we may be compelled to seek judicial intervention to obtain clarification on the matter.”<\/p>\n

The CFRPA concluded by noting that INEC is constitutionally mandated to regulate political parties and oversee the conduct of elections, including the verification and acceptance of candidates’ nomination documents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u25cf Seeks Clarification on President’s Eligibility By Yemi Oyeyemi, Abuja Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, the Center for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFRPA) has revived concerns over the authenticity of the Chicago State University certificate submitted by President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 general election. The civil society organization has formally written to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":99325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[4664,154,471,56],"class_list":["post-99383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-certificate","tag-inec","tag-kalu","tag-tinubu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99383"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99385,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99383\/revisions\/99385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/99325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}