Ex-Minister posts academic records online, knocks Tinubu’s aides over handling of certificate saga
Former Minister of Youth and sports, Solomon Dalung has said President Bola Tinubu’s aides are not handling his certificate saga very well.
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, had subpoenaed the Chicago State University (CSU) to release Tinubu’s academic records for use in the Nigerian supreme court.
Abubakar is challenging the victory of Tinubu in the February 25 election and the affirmation of Tinubu by the petition tribunal as the winner of the poll.
He had argued that there were discrepancies in the certificate Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which should have rendered him ineligible to contest the election.
Speaking in an interview on Channels on Tuesday, Dalung said “the more they talk, the more they introduce new issues that people capitalise on to add more burden on the president”.
Dalung said he posted his academic credentials on October 7 because the forgery claim levied at the president is affecting other citizens of the country.
“I surrendered my credentials for public scrutiny because currently there is a very serious international and national brouhaha about the issue of academic credentials of Nigerians,” he said.
“The president of Nigeria and his political allies are going from one court to another in America and Nigeria about their credentials.
“Now, what is going on has made everyone in Nigeria who owns a certificate a suspect.
“I have also put my certificate out publicly. If anyone is not satisfied, they can also go to court to compel the University of Jos to release my transcript.
“I have a lot of respect for the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I don’t envy him with whatever he is going through with this certificate thing.
“I think it is being mismanaged by his handlers. Those who are creating more problems of this issue are his handlers.
“The more they talk, the more they introduce new issues that people capitalise on to add more burden on the president. This affects the president directly.”
