TINUBU’S CERTIFICATE SAGA; Festus Keyamo’s Tweet Backfires.

In a twist of fate, a tweet from 2019 by President Bola Tinubu’s Federal Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, warning against presenting forged certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has come back to haunt his own camp the APC. The very statement he made that emphasized the disqualification of individuals presenting forged certificates now points fingers at the President.

Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made a resounding declaration in his tweet back in 2019, asserting that under the 1999 constitution, individuals don’t necessarily require a WAEC certificate to hold elected offices like president or governor. However, he emphatically warned that anyone who dares to present a forged WAEC or any other certificate to INEC would face disqualification.

Fast forward to the present day, and this declaration has returned with a vengeance. Four years later, the controversy surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s educational credentials erupted when Chicago State University (CSU), based in the United States, confirmed in a deposition that the certificate or diploma submitted by Mr. Tinubu to INEC was indeed forged.

The confirmation from CSU added a layer of complexity to the ongoing debate about Mr. Tinubu’s qualifications. While it confirmed that Mr. Tinubu had graduated from the American institution, it also affirmed that he had committed forgery by submitting a fake diploma to INEC. This revelation potentially places Mr. Tinubu in a precarious position, facing the possibility of removal from office – a penalty that Festus Keyamo had openly supported in his earlier statement back in 2019.

This forged certificate issue has now taken center stage in the ongoing legal battle between President Bola Tinubu and his opponents, particularly Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party’s Peter Obi. The focus of this legal dispute revolves around whether Mr. Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 election should be upheld or nullified due to the alleged certificate forgery.

Section 137 (1)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution, amended in 2010, explicitly states that no one can be legitimately elected as the president of Nigeria if they have presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This constitutional provision underscores the gravity of the situation and its potential implications on the nation’s political landscape.

As this controversy unfolds, it serves as a stark reminder that integrity and adherence to the law are crucial in the political arena. What was once a warning by a government official about the consequences of forgery has now come full circle, leaving politicians and the public with critical questions about the path forward and the implications for the country’s leadership.