Kalu Kalu, lawyer, has said that the primary concern regarding the Chicago State University (CSU) certificate controversy should revolve around President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s disqualification for the presidency, following legal provisions, due to presentation of a counterfeit certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Kalu stated that Nigerian media outlets have altered the narrative surrounding Atiku Abubakar’s petition, both in its initial presentation and throughout the subsequent appeal process.
He said, “The case of Atiku Abubakar is on whether the certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC was forged or not.”
He claimed that the media has not taken a strong stance on the oral testimony given by the registrar of CSU about the certificate that Tinubu provided to INEC, regarding if the university confirmed issuing that certificate to Tinubu or not.
He asserted that, according to the legal perspective, the focus of the narrative should be on Tinubu’s lack of eligibility for the presidency due to his submission of a forged certificate to INEC, rather than whether Tinubu actually attended CSU or not.
He further emphasised that the CSU registrar’s oral testimony openly acknowledged that the certificate Tinubu presented to INEC was not issued by the school.
“Let me put it on record for the whole world to know that once you present a forged certificate, you are not qualified ab initio to run,” he said.
He stated that the law treats everyone equally, without showing favouritism to any individual, and regardless of identity, if the law deems a person ineligible due to forgery, the individual is indeed disqualified.
The lawyer also mentioned the existence of a CSU admission application form containing a statement attributed to Tinubu, asserting his attendance at Government College, Lagos, and graduation in 1970.
As per Kalu’s perspective, when considered carefully, it becomes evident that there isn’t any spoken statement that contradicts the information contained in a document. In that document, it is revealed that the qualifying certificate which granted Tinubu admission to CSU indicated attendance of a female at government college in Lagos.
Following this information, he asserted that it is evident that Tinubu had also submitted a counterfeit certificate to CSU as part of his application for admission.
Frances Ibiefo
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