Abuja, Nigeria
Kalu Kalu, lawyer to the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 general elections, says President Bola Tinubu submitted a forged degree certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Kalu, said this on Thursday in Abuja during a press conference organized by his client, Abubakar, after he secured the academic records of Tinubu from the Chicago State University.
Since the release of the records to Atiku, Tinubu’s camp has denied the allegations of forgery.
However, according to Kalu, the released document substantiates the forgery claims against the President.
“One, that Bola Ahmed Tinubu forged the certificate he presented to INEC. That, two, that the qualifying certificate from South West College to Chicago State University bears a female name indicating that that document does not belong to Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Three, the Chicago State University admission form has a claim that Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended Government College Lagos and graduated in 1970 when indeed the school was established in 1974,” Kalu said.
“The same document has it that the owner of that document is a black American and (in) the document Bola Ahmed Tinubu submitted to INEC, he denied having dual citizenship which means it does not belong to him. Then, the same document, oral deposition, said the A in Bola A Tinubu is Ahmed but the NYSC certificate Bola Ahmed Tinubu submitted to INEC has Adekunle. I don’t know where Adekunle emerged from.”
Atiku whose petition was dismissed by the Presidential Election Tribunal, has approached the Supreme Court to overturn President Tinubu’s victory.
When asked about the possibility of the apex court accepting their new evidence, Kalu said, “It is very, very clear that from decided authorities, the Supreme Court has held that they can accept a party to adduce fresh evidence as long as certain conditions are met and from what transpired in proceedings in US courts, that condition has been met.
“So, as we speak, our law is very clear that a party at fault cannot be allowed to enjoy the fruits of its illegality.”
