Alausa says Tinubu earned first class at Chicago State, met his classmates

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has again defended President Bola Tinubu's academic record, saying he personally met people who studied alongside the President at Chicago State University in the United States.

Alausa spoke on Tuesday night on Channels Television's Politics Today programme. He said he spent close to 30 years living in Chicago and visited the university many times, which he said allowed him to know the institution well.

Asked whether he had met any of Tinubu's former classmates, the minister said he had met many of them in person. He also said the President graduated with a first class in Accounting, and described Tinubu as a genius.

"Forget the nonsense the opposition is peddling," Alausa said, urging Nigerians to set aside doubts raised about the President's credentials.

Why the issue keeps coming back

Questions about Tinubu's education first drew national attention before the 2023 general elections, when opposition parties pointed to gaps in the records he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The dispute later moved to a US court after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar asked a judge to order Chicago State University to release the President's records. The university released them and confirmed that Tinubu attended and graduated in 1979. Its registrar also swore an affidavit in the US confirming he was a student there.

Nigeria's Supreme Court dealt with the matter as part of the petitions against the 2023 presidential election and upheld Tinubu's victory.

The debate returned in August this year, when INEC began displaying the EC9 forms submitted by presidential aspirants for the 2027 election. The form filed by Tinubu listed only his university degree, with nothing for primary or secondary school, and that set off fresh argument online and among political commentators.

What happens next

The minister's remarks are the latest attempt by the government to close the argument, but the opposition has not dropped it and the issue is likely to follow the President into the 2027 campaign.

Alausa also defended Tinubu's performance in office, saying the President had moved the country from being moribund three years ago to one with a growing economy. When the interviewer raised Nigeria's large number of out-of-school children and high poverty levels, the minister said attention should stay on what he called the President's achievements.