You Can Only Forge What You Don’t Have – Presidency Opens Up On Tinubu’s CSU Records

The presidency has opened up on the allegations of forgery against President Bola Tinubu.

It dismissed claims that the certificate the President presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 elections was forged. Chicago State University (CSU) released the academic records of Tinubu to his political opponent, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, following the order of a court.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 election, requested the documents to back his allegation of forgery of CSU certificate against Tinubu.

In his reaction Wednesday, President Tinubu’s media aide, Temitope Ajayi, contended that CSU confirmed under oath that Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution and that the school does not handle replacements for lost certificates. He said there was no truth in the forgery claim, adding that no person can forge a certificate he already has.

Reacting via his account on the X formerly known as Twitter, the presidential media aide wrote: “We should be clear. “In the deposition made by the Chicago State University, there was nowhere the University said the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is fake. The University insisted under oath that President Tinubu graduated with honours and even at that, replacements for lost certificates are done by vendors not the University.

“The claim that President Tinubu submitted fake certificate to INEC does not make sense. A man can not forge the academic records he possesses. You can only forge what you don’t have.”