Tinubu Submits 2027 Nomination Papers With No Primary or Secondary School Records, Same Blank Form He Used in 2023 as INEC Accepts Incomplete Filing Despite Flawed Election

President Bola Tinubu has submitted nomination papers to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2027 presidential election that list no primary or secondary school qualifications, leaving the spaces for those sections completely blank on his EC9 form just as he did in 2023. INEC published Tinubu’s nomination papers on Saturday in line with its revised timetable for the 2027 general election. A review of the President’s Form EC9 shows that he listed only a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration obtained from Chicago State University in 1979, while the spaces provided for his primary and secondary school qualifications were left blank.

The omission is not a mistake. In 2022, when Tinubu first ran for president, he submitted an affidavit to INEC claiming that his primary and secondary school certificates were stolen by unknown persons during the military regime when he went into self-exile from October 1994 to October 1998. In 1999, when he ran for governor of Lagos State, he told a very different story, claiming he attended St Paul Children’s Home School in Ibadan between 1958 and 1964, and Government College, Ibadan, between 1965 and 1968. These claims were made under oath in court documents. Yet by 2023, he had abandoned those claims entirely and in 2027, he has submitted the same blank form with no explanation at all. Every other major candidate has listed their complete educational histories, with Atiku Abubakar listing his First School Leaving Certificate from 1954 and West African School Certificate from 1961, and Peter Obi listing St. Augustine’s Primary School, Christ the King College, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The 2023 election that brought Tinubu to power was itself plagued by widespread irregularities documented by multiple observer missions. The ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission noted the late start of voting beyond the 8:30am opening time due to the late arrival of polling officials and voting materials, and in some cases, the delivery of wrong materials at polling stations across the country. There were postponements of elections in some polling units in Lagos, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers and Edo States due to electoral violence or logistics challenges. Most polling officials and ad-hoc staff demonstrated inadequate knowledge of their duties, especially with the voting materials, and some polling units ran out of ink, delaying the resumption of voting. The set-up of most polling units visited did not adequately protect the secrecy of the voting process. There were cases of BVAS failure to accredit voters due mainly to technical issues relating to login, and incidents of violence, killings and disruption were recorded in several states. The mission deplored the murder of the Labour Party senatorial candidate for Enugu East senatorial district alongside five of his supporters, and three persons who lost their lives in Kano in clashes between supporters of APC and NNPP. On election day, an attack by Boko Haram insurgents in Gwoza, Borno State, resulted in five persons injured, and there were reported attacks by bandits in Alawa, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. Violent incidents were recorded in the Mafoluku area of Oshodi in Lagos State, where masked men armed with pump action rifles disrupted voting and burnt ballot papers and boxes. There were reported cases of ballot snatching and BVAS theft in Delta, Katsina and Anambra States.

The European Union Election Observation Mission stated that the election exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and signalled a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability. The EU mission said naira and fuel scarcity suppressed voter participation on election day, and recorded cases of undue interference by governors, while the campaign was also marred by internal party conflicts and misuse of incumbency by governors tilted the playing field. The mission recorded more than 100 campaign-related violent incidents, including assassinations, and stated that public confidence in INEC was severely damaged on February 25 due to its operational failures and lack of transparency. A lack of transparency surrounded the use of the BVAS and the INEC results viewing portal (IReV), which contradicted the integrity and credibility of the elections.

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The Commonwealth Observer Group, led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, identified significant problems that undermined the credibility of the electoral process. The failure of the BVAS devices and the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portal on and after election day were major factors that undermined the overall credibility, transparency and inclusivity of the elections. The malfunctioning of the BVAS led to the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters. The US Department of State’s 2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices highlighted voter suppression and vote buying, campaigning at polling stations, lack of ballot secrecy, violence, and intimidation.

Despite this damning catalogue of irregularities, the Presidential Election Petition Court would later dismiss the EU and ECOWAS reports as “completely valueless and inadmissible” in Nigerian courts because their authors did not present themselves for cross-examination. But the question for Nigerians is not about legal admissibility. It is about moral consistency. It is about whether a country that claims to defend democracy should reward a leader whose election was documented as deeply flawed by multiple observer missions.

The legal questions are serious. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mumini Jimoh, has stated that education up to secondary school level is one of the basic qualifications prescribed for presidential candidates, making it practically impossible for anyone who does not possess the requisite qualification to validly contest the election. The opposition has demanded answers. The National Democratic Coalition has said INEC must explain why it accepted an incomplete form, asking: “When you fill out forms online and to submit, it will reject your submission, saying you have not completed filling in all the necessary information. So, I am surprised that this form went through INEC, knowing it was not filled.” The Kwankwasiyya Movement has described the questions as legitimate, saying Nigerians deserve a clear explanation.

The pattern is unmistakable. Tinubu has spent his entire political career hiding from scrutiny. He has hidden his age. He has hidden his health. He has hidden his educational records. He has hidden his past. In 1999, he had a story about attending Government College, Ibadan. In 2023, he claimed his certificates were stolen. In 2027, he has submitted the same blank form, offering no explanation at all. He is counting on Nigerians to keep looking the other way. But Nigerians are watching. They are reading, They are asking questions, and they are demanding answers. The man who wants to lead Nigeria for another four years cannot even tell them where he went to primary school. That is not leadership. That is an insult.

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