The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has said he lived in Chicago for almost 30 years and personally met several people who studied with President Bola Tinubu at Chicago State University.
Alausa stated this Tuesday night during an interview on Channels Television, where he defended the President’s academic record at the American institution.
The minister responded to questions about Tinubu’s educational qualifications, which have continued to attract public scrutiny.
Alausa insisted that Tinubu graduated with a first-class degree in accounting from the university, saying he was familiar with the institution, having visited it many times during his long stay in Chicago.
The minister said he had met Tinubu’s classmates in person, dismissing insinuations about the President’s attendance at the university.
When asked directly if he had met people who studied with Tinubu, he said he had met many of them.
When asked whether the President graduated with first-class honours, he answered in the affirmative, saying, of course, in Accounting.
The Minister, who described Tinubu as a genius, said there should be no debate about the President’s intellectual capability.
Alausa also defended Tinubu’s performance in office, saying the President transformed Nigeria from a moribund country three years ago into a growing economy.
When challenged by the interviewer, who pointed to the country’s high number of out-of-school children and poverty levels, the minister said the focus should remain on the President’s achievements.
The minister’s comments come amid a long-running controversy over President Tinubu’s academic credentials.
The certificate saga first gained national attention ahead of the 2023 general elections when opposition parties questioned discrepancies in the President’s academic records submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The matter escalated into a legal battle in the United States after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar approached a US court to compel Chicago State University to release Tinubu’s academic records.
The university subsequently released the records and confirmed that Bola A. Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution in 1979.
The registrar of the university also deposed to an affidavit in a US court affirming his studentship. The Supreme Court of Nigeria eventually ruled on the matter as part of the 2023 presidential election petitions and upheld Tinubu’s election.
The controversy, however, resurfaced in August this year after INEC began displaying Forms EC9 submitted by presidential aspirants for the 2027 elections.
The form filed by President Tinubu again listed only his university degree, with no details provided for primary and secondary schools, a development that triggered fresh debate on social media and among political commentators.
The minister maintained that the President’s record at Chicago State University is authentic, insisting that he personally knows many people who studied with Tinubu at the institution.
