BBC Clears Tinubu of Certificate Forgery Allegations

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has published a report that clears President Bola Tinubu of any certificate forgery allegations.

On Wednesday, the BBC’s Global Disinformation Team published a report that cleared President Bola Tinubu of any accusations of faking his college diploma. The report was called “Bola Tinubu diploma: no proof of forgery by Nigeria’s president”.

The report was based on the academic records of President Tinubu from Chicago State University (CSU) that were released last week as part of a legal case filed by his main challenger in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr. Abubakar had accused President Tinubu of falsifying his CSU diploma of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration awarded in 1979 that he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The BBC team contacted CSU with questions about its diplomas and found no evidence that President Tinubu’s diploma was forged. The team also examined some of the most widely circulated claims on social media that suggested discrepancies in the appearance, date, and signatures of the diploma.

The team discovered that the differences in the appearance of the diploma were due to it having been re-issued in the 1990s, after President Tinubu lost his original copy. The team also verified that the date and signatures on the diploma were consistent with those of other diplomas issued by CSU in 1979.

The report also noted that President Tinubu had previously released his transcripts from CSU, which showed his grades and courses. The transcripts were certified by Jamar Orr, who was then a staff member of CSU, in August 2022.

The report concluded that there was no basis for the certificate forgery allegations against President Tinubu and that they were part of a disinformation campaign to discredit him ahead of the election.

The report has been widely shared and praised by President Tinubu’s supporters and allies, who have hailed it as a vindication of his integrity and academic achievements. They have also called on Mr. Abubakar to withdraw his case and concede defeat.