Tinubu’s Govt Labels Nigerian Holders of Fake Foreign Certificates as Criminals

Following Daily Nigeria’s exposé on how an agent at Benin Republic University sold a degree certificate to its undercover reporter, Umar Audu, who had never attended the school yet within six weeks of being admitted into the university and also served as a corps member in the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, with the certificate obtained, the Tinubu-led administration has vowed to arrest Nigerians with fake foreign university certificates, yet labelled anyone culpable as criminal.

Meanwhile, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s educational background is wrapped around controversy as to whether he attended Chicago State University as he claimed to be a graduate in Business and Administration with honours without obtaining the original certificate directly from the school administration but through a third party like Umar Audu.

In response to Umar’s investigation, the federal government has suspended the accreditation of certificates from two francophone universities – Benin and Togo.

However, the threat to flush out Nigerians with fake foreign certificates in the educational system by the Minister of Education, Mr Tahir Mamman, as disclosed in his interview with Channels TV on Wednesday, is considered a move to apprehend any Nigerians culpable of parading fake certificates as original would be labelled criminal yet arrested.

Tahir further expressed, “Students who patronize foreign institutions to procure degrees are not victims. They are criminals. I have no sympathy for such people. Instead, they are part of the criminal chain that should be arrested.”

This investigation is, however, not only restricted to Nigerian universities but also would be extended to other African countries. In Mr. Mamman’s statement, he said, “We are not going to stop at just Benin and Togo. We are going to extend the dragnet to countries like Uganda, Kenya, even Niger here where such institutions have been set up.”

When asked what Mr Tinubu’s government will do to Nigerians with fake foreign certificates working in government institutions, Mr Mamman said, “If, along the line, we can trace that there are people already in the system. For instance, if a particular institution or operator has been operating for the last 10 years, we will check if we can get records of Nigerians who attended that institution.

“Once we do that, they are criminals, and you know there is no timeframe to criminality. We will trace them. As long as we can lay our hands on their institutions, and they are right here with us. Certainly, the security agencies will go after them because they are criminals, Mr. Mamman said.

This is a threat of arrest that comes with the exemption as the Supreme Court rejected all evidence on Mr Tinubu’s certificate forgery scandal while upholding his electoral victory with a low vote of confidence.

Meanwhile, to become a president in Nigeria, the constitution only requires a School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent.

Presidency Requirements

Also, to win in the first round, a candidate must have the largest number of votes nationwide and at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) violated the right of the electorates to elect a president of choice. At the same time, the Judiciary upholds in victory despite all burden of proof lifted by the opposition parties and candidates.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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