Lack of Proof Indicates President of Nigeria Did Not Forge Bola Tinubu's Diploma

The BBC's Global Disinformation Team has reviewed the allegations surrounding the authenticity of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's academic diploma, and they have found no evidence to suggest that it is forged. The controversy began when Chicago State University (CSU) released President Tinubu's academic records, leading to viral claims on social media that his certificates were faked. These accusations surfaced as part of a legal case filed by one of President Tinubu's political rivals, Atiku Abubakar, who sought to disqualify him from the presidential election. Mr. Abubakar had accused President Tinubu of falsifying the CSU diploma he submitted to the electoral authority. To gather evidence for his case, Mr. Abubakar approached a US court and requested CSU to release President Tinubu's records. CSU provided seven redacted diplomas to Mr. Abubakar, including a replacement diploma they issued to President Tinubu in 1979. The CSU's registrar confirmed that these diplomas had not been collected by the students. Additionally, CSU stated that they do not keep copies of diplomas already collected by students. Mr. Abubakar's lawyer then questioned CSU's current registrar, Caleb Westberg, in a deposition, but the BBC's analysis of the transcript found no evidence to support the claim of forgery. It was discovered that the appearance discrepancy between the diploma that President Tinubu submitted to Inec and the 1979 diplomas released by CSU was due to the reissuance of the diploma in the 1990s. CSU confirmed that they do not keep records of when a graduate requests a reissued diploma. The BBC also obtained a copy of the diploma from President Tinubu's team, which matched the black and white photocopy submitted to Inec. Furthermore, the claim that President Tinubu's diploma did not include the phrase "with honors" was debunked as it was present in his diploma issued in the early 2000s, authenticated by Mr. Westberg. CSU expressed confidence in the integrity of their records regarding President Tinubu's attendance and graduation. Another allegation circulating on social media was that the person who attended CSU with the name Bola A Tinubu is female. However, Mr. Westberg clarified that there was no confusion about the gender of the student and that they authenticated the student's identity through factors other than the name. While there were discrepancies regarding President Tinubu's birth date and the secondary school he attended, it was suggested that these could be attributed to human error. The BBC reached out to President Tinubu's team for comment, but they directed them to the All Progressives Congress party. Mr. Abubakar's team did not respond to their questions. Overall, the BBC's investigation found no evidence of forgery in President Tinubu's academic diploma.