CSU: More knocks for Atiku over certificate saga

Former Deputy National Publicity of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekeni Nabena, yesterday told the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, that his heating the polity over pre-election matters will not make him President.

Nabena said Atiku shoud rather “start preparing for another election in 2027 as usual.”

The APC was reacting to Atiku’s Thursday press conference during which the former VP sought to discredit the Chicago State University certificate of President Bola Tinubu.

A PDP member, Reno Omokri, said the party’s insistence on pursuing the CSU certificate issue smacked of desperation.

“If not for desperation, why would the great PDP that produced Presidents Obasanjo, Yar’adua and Jonathan even consider clutching at such weak straws?” he said in an open letter to the party.

A group, Muslim Media Watch, said Atiku’s moves depict him as one too desperate to rule Nigeria.

Nabena, in his statement in Abuja, said: “Atiku Abubakar should know by now that Nigerians have moved on. The country is now enjoying good governance because this administration is responsive and responsible.

”See what is happening across Ministries, Departments and Agencies; Nigerians will no longer wait for months to get their international passport when they apply. Over 204,000 backlog has been cleared within three weeks.

“Think about the welfare packages for the elderly by the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry, the bold step to remove the fuel subsidy that has held the country hostage for a long time, government intervention in all sectors like Aviation, Health, Transport, Economy, Agriculture and security among others.

“This Renewed Hope Agenda is already working and Nigerians won’t allow anyone, including Atiku or Peter Obi, to drag the nation back to the desert.”

Continuing, Nabena said: “The registrar of Chicago State University (CSU) Caleb Westberb never said President Tinubu forged the certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria

“Nigeria is a sovereign state, and until the highest court of the land says otherwise, President Bola Tinubu is still legitimately elected and will continue to pilot the affairs of the country.”

Why PDP pinning all its hope is wrong – Omokri

The former media aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan said: “It has been said that a person’s worst enemy is the individual who feeds their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

“The 2023 election is over. Peter Obi defeated us, not Bola Tinubu.

“By contesting in an election he knew he could not win, Peter Obi stole away votes that would naturally have come to the Peoples Democratic Party (the Southeast has always voted PDP since 1999. Only 2023 was an exception).

“That is why we lost. As a true friend of the Peoples Democratic Party, I told Peter Obi this before the election.

“I also said the same thing to Waziri Atiku Abubakar. I said if we did not find a way to convince Peter Obi not to run, then we would have to take him on head-on because there was not enough space for both him and Waziri Atiku on the plinth of victory.

“But that is now history. The fact of the matter is that the current trajectory of our party is very and eerily similar to the election denial that prevailed in the Republican Party after the 2020 election.

“Pinning all our hopes on a smoking gun from Chicago State University that failed to manifest shows that we have reached the end of our ropes. Let us face the truth. AriseTV and other irresponsible media got our hopes up unnecessarily.

“Chicago State University never denied Bola Tinubu.

“A meticulous reading of Mr. Westberg’s deposition shows that he affirmed Mr. Tinubu three times as a bona fide graduate they once issued with a diploma certificate.

“Under normal circumstances, it would be apparent to us that there is no case here. Chicago State University, through its registrar, Mr. Caleb Westberg, has testified under oath that Bola Tinubu, the male now President of Nigeria, was admitted, attended and graduated from their institution.

“They never denied his credentials. What they said, both in their affidavit and the deposition that followed is that they could not attest to the diploma tendered by Bola Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission, not because Bola Tinubu did not graduate from their university, but because a third party vendor issued it, and certificates are more of ‘a Nigerian thing’.

“In case members of my party do not know, in November of 2022, this same Mr. Mike Enahoro-Ebah attempted to disqualify Mr. Tinubu on exactly these same grounds, and an FCT Magistrate Court struck out his case without being assigned. And we think the Supreme Court will give credence to what a Magistrate Court dismissed?

“What do we now want to prove at the Supreme Court, even in the unlikely event we are allowed to present new evidence? That Bola Tinubu forged a diploma for a degree that he legitimately earned?

“If not for desperation, why would the great PDP that produced Presidents Obasanjo, Yar’adua and Jonathan even consider clutching at such weak straws? It is like saying a man forged a cheque for an account in his name! Bola Tinubu’s political foes have clutched at this straw before in 1999 and 2003 and failed.

“And that is what we now want to hold onto in 2023? Twenty years after it failed? The people behind this desperation are almost all agents of Peter Obi. They don’t love Atiku Abubakar or the PDP.

“It is a strategy of using Waziri to fight Asiwaju, hoping they cancel each other and that a rerun election is ordered, which Peter Obi will win. They fail to consider that as of today, that is yes daddily impossible. Waziri Atiku Abubakar would have been a better President than Bola Tinubu. But we were outsmarted by Bola Tinubu.

“Our redemption will not come from Chicago. It will come from facing reality and ensuring we do not have a divided house in 2027.

“I have been more loyal to the PDP than those now trying to make something out of nothing. And if I cannot tell my party the truth, then to borrow the words of Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:19, I am of all men most miserable!”

Where is the forgery? – Akintola (SAN)

Reacting to the allegation of forgery of the Chicago State University on Arise TV yesterday, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Adeniyi Akintola, said those making such allegation are largely ignorant of the issue at stake.

His words: “What we have been having regarding Tinubu’s case are comments from mechanics and even painters from every nook and cranny to comment on what they know nothing about, and that has been the base of our own democracy because our judicial system has become too media-driven.

“The allegation that they have been making—I don’t know if they know the meaning of forgery. I have gone through the entire deposition, and there was nowhere to challenge them to show where in the deposition the registrar mentioned fake or forgery.

“They have been talking about illegality; at what stage did they discover this illegality? The certificate issue was not before the Court of Appeal.

“I have gone through their brief argument, and nowhere is this issue of forged certificate mentioned; it was not canvassed or discussed in the court below; it was never raised in court, so we are waiting for them to prove that he forged any documents, and for those who want to unveil a forged certificate, all we can say is good luck to them.

“The university (CSU) issues degrees, and the diplomas are for ceremonial entertainment, and not many people are willing to collect them.

“It was the PDP that wanted the certificate, and CSU said they could not certify it.”

Atiku desperate for presidential seat, says Group

National Coordinator of the Muslim Media Watch, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim, accused Atiku of “using religion to divide the people of this country purely for selfish interest.”

He said the former VP’s failure in the last presidential election was destined by God and he should accept it.

Ibrahim said: "Politicians and their followers that use ethnicity and religion to divide the people of Nigeria are enemies of peace and enemies of this country.”

He warned desperate politicians and their followers to desist from religious and ethnic bigotry.