โฆbegs US, EU, AU, UK to tell Tinubu to vacate office
A political activist and former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank on Wednesday pleaded with the international community especially the EU, US, UK and ECOWAS to prevail on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to vacate office over certificate forgery.
He also suggested a mass action to take Nigeria from political vampires, saying Tinubuโs continuos stay in office would scare foreign investors.
โHis actions negate democratic standards and charters to which Nigeria, Ecowas and all AU members subscribe.
No investor would want to come to a country where its President has been confirmed to be a certificate forger. The present image of the President would continue to militate against the nationโs economic growth until he vacates office to save Nigeria from continuous embarrassmentโ, Frank emphasized.
According to him, following the revelation that Tinubu apparently forged the certificate he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he was constitutionally not fit to remain as President of Nigeria.
The management of the Chicago State University (CSU)in the United States had on agreed agreed under oath that one โBola. A. Tinubuโ attended the institution but denied issuing the Diploma Certificate he, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu that contested elections in Nigeria presented to INEC that is purported to have been issued by the school.
The CSU documents revealed fake admission entry results used by a certain Bola A. Tinubu, with a GCE purportedly obtained from Government College Lagos (1970) and South West College, Illinois, US.
Frank in a statement said that GCL was not in existence in 1970 but established in 1974 and the latter certificate in the United States contains particulars of a female including her Social Security Number.
โThe Bola Ahmed Tinubu who contested elections in Nigeria has Social Security Number in the documents of his Narcotics conviction in Chicago which are at variance and materially different from those presented by CSU belonging to the Bola A Tinubu that attended CSU. Is it therefore possible for a U.S Resident or citizen to have two social security numbers?โ, he queried.
Date of Birth conflict: The CSU transcripts also carries March 29 1954. Tinubuโs submission to INEC is 29 March 1952.
This, Frank said, clearly showed that he lied to INEC under oath (perjury) by the authority of the CSU papers.
He said, โHence the pre-requisite admission documents submitted to CSU by the said Tinubu that attended their institution, contains information at variance with those presented to INEC by the Bola Tinubu that contested elections in Nigeria at various times, indicating serial events of forgery and dishonesty both in Nigeria and abroad.
โNow that it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Tinubu forged the certificate with which he contested the presidential election on February 25, 2023, he is duty bound to vacate office as provided for in Section 137(1)(j) of the constitution which stipulates that no one would be legitimately elected as President of Nigeria if the person has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission. This is a constitutional matter with very grave implications.
โSo we call on lovers of democracy, former Presidents, retired Justices of Supreme Court, traditional rulers, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and civil society organizations to prepare for mass action to ensure that Tinubu vacates office as President. This is the last opportunity to take back our country from the gang of criminals who have hijacked the country.
โWe also call on the authorities of ECOWAS to ask him to vacate the office of the chairman, otherwise, every decision that ECOWAS will take under his leadership will be null and void and will not be respected.
โUnder his leadership, ECOWAS will not have credibility to speak on major issues in the continent including the coup in Niger, among others, since his legitimacy has now been eroded by reason of an established act of forgery.
โHe can no longer and must not be allowed to proceed as ECOWAS chairman or engage in negotiation on behalf of ECOWAS because it will not be legitimate.โ
Frank who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, insisted that Tinubu needed to vacate office as President of Nigeria because remaining there will continue to set the country back.
โWe want to believe that the Supreme Court justices that will hear the appeal on the disputed Presidential election outcome are Nigerians and that they are not from either South Africa or any other country.
โSo it is their duty to give vent to the constitutional provision that any body who lies on oath is guilty of a criminal offence and hence cannot hold any public office in the country. A president that forged, his certificate is not fit and proper to remain in office as President.
โThere is no room for any technicality at this point in time as is often the case because Nigerians and the world are watching our judiciary to see if they would prove to be men of integrity.
โThe judges who sat in America to give Nigeria this landmark judgement that revealed that our president forged his certificate, are clear examples that the judiciary is meant to protect the interests of the law and the common man and not for judges to protect their own selfish interests, their pockets or give justice to the highest bidder.
โAny decision that the Supreme Court takes right now will either make or mar our democracy.โ