Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has accused President Bola Tinubu of being a serial forger and liar.
Paul Ibe, Atiku’s media adviser pointed to Tinubu’s alleged history of forgeries and lies, including his educational qualifications and work experience, in a statement he released on Sunday.
Atiku defended his own name changes as documented in an affidavit from 1973, while asserting that Tinubu’s history of forgery and deception has been well documented.
The statement reads: “The world has come to the inevitable conclusion that Bola A. Tinubu is a confirmed forger-in-chief on account of his serial forgeries and lies in the last 50 years.
“Bola A. Tinubu has forged and lied about every aspect of his life: his heritage, his name and date of birth, his education and certificates, and work experience.
“The discovery of Tinubu’s records at the Chicago State University and the court-ordered deposition in the United States is only the tip of the iceberg that has been the litany of his forgeries and lies.
Read also:Tinubu asks Supreme Court to dismiss Atiku’s appeal over abuse of due process
“The attempt by Bola A. Tinubu to drag Atiku Abubakar into his drowning arena of forgery must be seen for what it is: an attempt to minimise the allegations of forgeries that he has to contend with.
“Contrary to Bola A. Tinubu’s forgery shopping allegation against Atiku, it is on record that the change of name of the former Vice President reverting to Atiku Abubakar from Siddiq Abubakar is well documented in an affidavit dated 18th of August 1973, spanning over a period of 50 years, (which incidentally is as old as the commencement of Tinubu’s life of forgeries and lies), is in the public domain.
“Now, let’s put Bola A. Tinubu’s life of forgeries and lies in proper perspective. In 1999, Tinubu lied under oath in his form CF001, which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that he attended St Paul’s Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos; Government College Ibadan, Chicago University (CU) and Chicago State University (CSU).
“It has been established that he only attended CSU and that he secured admission into the university by impersonation.
“Through the discoveries of his records in the Chicago State University, we now know that Bola A. Tinubu forged a secondary school certificate of Government College Lagos, an HSC certificate from Cambridge University and a transcript from Richard Daley College, which belongs to a female owner.
“We also know, thanks to the discoveries, that the CSU, a few days to graduation in 1979, notified him of outstanding (or carry-over as it is known in Nigeria) pre-qualifying examinations in English, Mathematics and Comprehension, which never appeared on his transcript to have been retaken.
Read also:Atiku’s aide knocks BBC over report
“After his odyssey in falsifying educational qualifications, Bola A. Tinubu claimed in his 1999 affidavit to contest for the position of Governor of Lagos State, that he had a working experience with Arthur Anderson Accounting, Deloitte and Mobil Nigeria. It ends up that both claims on Authur Anderson and Deloitte – both in the USA are false because his footprints are nowhere to be found in those corporations.
“Like CSU, Deloitte denied ever knowing or having any Bola A. Tinubu in their employment and he has since stopped adding that to his official or public records since his exposure.
“Curiously, handlers of this same Bola A. Tinubu have smuggled Adekunle, a middle name that magically popped up in his so-called National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate, into his Wikipedia on the 6th of October, 2023. This may yet be another indication of a master forger at work.
“Yet, this same Bola A. Tinubu and his handlers want to confuse the public by making insinuations about what Atiku Abubakar is not.
“For the purpose of clarification, all the names that Atiku Abubakar bears are names that are traceable to his family tree.
“He adopted Atiku Abubakar as his official name while in the employ of the Nigeria Customs Service. Atiku’s life is an open book, and not the mystery or closed book that continues to define the life of Bola A. Tinubu.
“Conversely, Bola A. Tinubu is a name that has no history nor social acquaintance until the late 1970s.
“We, therefore, urge Bola A. Tinubu and his handlers to desist from making any further attempt at comparing the career forger known as Bola A. Tinubu with an impeccable name that Atiku Abubakar has built over the years.”
The statement called on Tinubu to refrain from comparing himself to Atiku.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
