ABUJA — Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Alwan Hassan, has dismissed lingering allegations of certificate forgery against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stating that Chicago State University (CSU) never declared the diploma submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as forged.

Speaking during a live political television interview, Hassan defended President Tinubu’s educational qualification disclosures by explaining the statutory requirements for presidential eligibility under Nigerian law.

“CSU Never Said President Tinubu’s Certificate Was Forged”

Reacting to ongoing opposition critiques concerning candidate credentials, Alwan Hassan emphasized that public interpretations of the university’s legal depositions regarding President Tinubu have been distorted by political adversaries:

“There is nowhere that Chicago State University says the certificate President Tinubu submitted to INEC is forged. What the Constitution says is a ‘school cert’ or its equivalent. An equivalent of a ‘school cert’ is the ability to read and write.”

— Alwan Hassan, APC Chieftain

Constitutional Interpretation of School Certificate Equivalent

Hassan’s defense anchors on judicial precedents interpreting Section 131(d) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended):

• CSU Verification: APC defenders maintain that Chicago State University confirmed under oath that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended the institution and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
• Constitutional Baseline: Hassan noted that under Nigerian electoral jurisprudence, the statutory minimum threshold of a “School Certificate or its equivalent” is broad, designed to assess basic literacy, numeracy, and educational attainment, which higher academic qualifications far exceed.
• Dismissal of Opposition Claims: The APC chieftain urged opposition parties to move past pre-election litigation and credential debates, calling on political actors to focus instead on constructive economic engagement with President Tinubu’s administration.

Qualification Debate Matrix

  PARTY POSITION:      APC (Defended by Alwan Hassan)
  TARGET OF DEFENSE:   President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Educational Filings
  CSU POSITION:        Graduation confirmed (B.Sc. 1979); minor administrative re-issuance variations
  LEGAL BENCHMARK:     Section 131(d) of 1999 Constitution (School Cert or its equivalent)
  DEFENSE DEFINITION:  Literacy, higher academic degrees, and formal education far exceed constitutional baseline

Ongoing Political Discourse

While judicial rulings from the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) and the Supreme Court have previously affirmed the validity of President Tinubu’s election, credential transparency remains a recurring talking point among opposition commentators as political alignments take shape for future electoral cycles.