I snubbed governors Tinubu sent to beg me after election; I’ll not stop fighting until Supreme Court rules: Atiku Abubakar

Opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar, says President Bola Tinubu sent a delegation of governors to beg him after the February 25th presidential election but he snubbed them.

“Immediately after the elections, I was told there was a delegation of governors who claimed they were sent by the president, and I did not even allow them to get into my house – I didn’t,” Mr Abubakar said.

Mr Abubakar, in a world press conference on the latest revelation on Mr Tinubu’s controversial academic record on Thursday, vowed to legally pursue his case against Mr Tinubu until the Supreme Court rules.

He added “I will only drop the fight when the court rules. If the court rules that I am right, fine. If the court rules that he is right, fine. So that’s the end of the fight, because, at the moment, we are at the Supreme Court, and there is no other higher court than the Supreme Court.”

Mr Abubakar’s statement followed a recent deposition by Chicago State University, revealing that Mr Tinubu presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Caleb Westberg, the registrar at Chicago State University, said Mr Tinubu’s certificate, dated June 22, 1979, and tendered to INEC on June 17, 2022, was not issued by the school and its administrators could, therefore, not be able to authenticate its source, Peoples Gazette reported on Tuesday.

Decades of controversy on Mr Tinubu’s academic record took another turn after Mr Abubakar approached the court to compel CSU to grant access to Mr Tinubu’s academic record.

After months of pushback from Mr Tinubu, the court compelled CSU to release Mr Tinubu’s record, a development followed by a deposition by the institution, revealing that Mr Tinubu presented a forged certificate to the Nigerian electoral body.

CSU’s deposition has sparked reactions amongst Nigerians, with many calling for Mr Tinubu’s ouster in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Section 137 (1)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution (amended in 2010) specifically stated that no one would be legitimately elected president of Nigeria if the person “has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”