Alausa says he met Tinubu's Chicago classmates, calls president a genius
- Education Minister Tunji Alausa says he lived in Chicago for nearly 30 years and met people who studied with President Tinubu.
- He insisted on Channels Television that Tinubu graduated with a first class in Accounting from Chicago State University.
- The president's academic record has been questioned since before the 2023 election and the debate flared again this year.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has again defended President Bola Tinubu's academic record, saying he personally knows people who were at Chicago State University with the president.
Alausa spoke on Channels Television's Politics Today on Tuesday night. He said he spent close to 30 years living in Chicago and visited the university many times during that period.
Asked whether he had met any of Tinubu's former classmates, the minister said he had met plenty of them face to face. He also said the president finished with a first class in Accounting, and described him as a genius.
"Forget the nonsense the opposition is peddling," Alausa said, urging Nigerians to stop questioning the president's credentials.
Why the matter keeps coming back
The question of Tinubu's certificates has followed him since before the 2023 general election, when rival parties raised concerns about the records he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar took the matter to a court in the United States to force Chicago State University to release the president's records. The university released them and confirmed that Bola A. Tinubu attended and graduated in 1979. Its registrar also swore an affidavit in the US court confirming his studentship.
Nigeria's Supreme Court later dealt with the issue as part of the petitions against the 2023 presidential election and upheld Tinubu's victory.
The argument returned in August this year, when INEC began displaying the Form EC9 papers filed by candidates for the 2027 election. The form submitted for the president again listed only his university degree, with nothing for primary or secondary school. That set off fresh argument online and among political commentators.
On the economy, Alausa said the president has moved Nigeria from a weak position three years ago to a growing one. When the interviewer raised the country's large number of out-of-school children and high poverty levels, the minister said the discussion should stay on the president's achievements.
No new documents were released during the interview, and the minister did not say he had obtained any fresh records from the university.
What happens next
With the 2027 election cycle already under way, the president's paperwork is likely to face more scrutiny as campaigns build. Alausa's comments keep the issue in public view, but they do not settle it for critics who want the records examined again.
