The controversy surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s certificate from Chicago State University (CSU) has generated a lot of faux that many believe is embarrassing Nigeria on the international stage.
The National Democratic Coalition in the United States of America (NADECO – USA) has become the latest group to weigh in on the matter. The group has asked Tinubu to resign to save the country from further embarrassment.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had on August 2, filed a suit in the U.S. seeking an order to compel CSU to release Tinubu’s academic record. Tinubu, whose election is being challenged by Atiku and Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, does not want his record released.
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The educational background of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who contested the Nigerian presidential election under the All Progressive Congress (APC), has been a subject of controversy and has become important for the election tribunal case at the Supreme Court.
The president said making his CSU academic record public would infringe on his privacy rights under the Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act (FERPA), a U.S. law that protects the academic records of students.
Tinubu has appealed an earlier ruling by Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, who in his ruling on September 19 ordered CSU to release the record.
At the Court of Appeal, Tinubu’s lawyers argued before Judge Nancy Maldonado of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, that “Severe and irreparable harm will be done to Bola Tinubu if the records are released.”
In a statement issued on September 25, 2023, NADECO – USA asserted that the controversies surrounding Bola Tinubu’s academic history at Chicago State University have disgraced the entire nation of over 200 million people on the global stage. The statement also strongly criticized the socio-economic challenges resulting from the perceived failures of Tinubu’s government policies that have adversely affected the lives of Nigerians.
The statement reads: “Nigeria is in the throes of a deep international image, domestic and regional crisis-bleeding profusely on both national and international stages. It is a nation held in disdain presently at the international stage; its economy is in shambles, and its people are hungry for change.
“Presently, a dollar is a stone’s throw from a thousand naira. Even institutions like Chicago State University find themselves on the precipice of disrepute, teetering on the brink of losing international credibility and accreditation, all due to the wake of destruction left by Tinubu’s unwavering pursuit of his questionable presidency.
“This perilous journey, fuelled by one man’s relentless ambition has led to the heartbreaking ignorance of the collective suffering of Nigerians by Tinubu and the APC.
“In a plea to rescue Nigeria from the clutches of Tinubu’s questionable ambitions, NADECO USA implores Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu to liberate himself and the over 200 million Nigerians from the impending implosion. If MrTinubu chooses to resign, perhaps Nigerians will find it in their hearts to forgive, and the secrecy legacy he leaves behind at CSU may no longer bear the stain of his political pursuits. He should be advised to do the needful.”