Atiku breaks silence over refusal to release own academic records, talks tough

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, has said a Nigerian newspaper had no right to conduct an inquiry into his records which he said were neither controversial nor shrouded in secrecy.

Legit.ng recalls that the newspaper reported that Atiku refused to release his academic records, despite himself this year sending his lawyers to the United States to legally force Chicago State University (CSU) to release the academic records of President Bola Tinubu.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the February 2023 election, accused the newspaper of mischief and unprofessionalism.

He also claimed that the story was “fictional”. The 77-year-old reacted on Saturday, December 9, through his media aide, Paul Ibe.

Atiku said: “The ethics of journalism seeks to establish the truth when there is a dispute about it or when there is a deliberate cover-up that inhibits public interest.

“What the Premium Times has done in this case keeps faith in neither of these two precepts. The story in reference by Premium Times is nothing other than witch-hunt – and a callous one at that.”

Meanwhile, the newspaper stood by its report and maintained that Atiku had ignored its request to release his records for over two months.

Atiku refuses to release academic records

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Atiku was accused of refusing to release his academic records. In a bid to get President Tinubu disqualified by the court, Atiku sent his lawyers to the United States to legally force the CSU to release the latter's academic records.

However, the Adamawa-born politician failed to release his own records as requested by Premium Times.