Festus Keyamo Criticizes Atiku, Urges Apology to Tinubu and Nigerians Following the Release of the President's Academic Records by Chicago State University

Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has taunted Atiku Abubakar in the wake of Chicago State University's release of President Bola Tinubu's academic records.

Keyamo said Atiku, the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, should apologize to Tinubu and Nigerians for the humiliation.

Keyamo tweeted: “From the responses by Chicago State University, ATIKU’s journey to Chicago and back has been a journey to nowhere, a fruitless exercise and an odyssey in self-humiliation. President Tinubu and Nigerians deserve an unreserved apology from him.”

He added: “It is now obvious that the loss of ATIKU Abubakar at the last polls hurt him deeply more than all his previous losses put together; it has since sent him spinning like a drunkard, lashing out to hold on to every single straw that resembles a lifeline. This is bad for his health; he should accept that this game is over (as the Chicago State University responses have shown) and retire peacefully to his famed abode. Those around him have a role to play in this.”

Keyamo’s tweets come after CSU released the academic records of Tinubu following an order from a Chicago court.

In the result released, CSU confirmed it found three diplomas matching the certificate Tinubu presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after a diligent search.

The university, on Monday, Oct. 2, presented to Atiku’s legal team, a cache of documents connected to  Tinubu’s education at the institution and copies of certificates with redacted names issued to other persons about the same time the Nigerian president finished from the school in 1979.

It also contained Tinubu’s admission records, and a letter dated 27 June 2022 confirming that he attended the university from August 1977 to June 1979 majoring in accounting. The letter said Tinubu was awarded Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Honours on 22 June 1979.

The release of the documents by CSU confirms that Tinubu graduated from CSU in 1979 although observers say the released documents raised other questions. One of the questions raised is Tinubu's gender, which was listed as female “F”.

Others pointed out that the certificate Tinubu presented to INEC is different from what was released by CSU and they argued that this is tantamount to “forgery”.

In the document Tinubu presented to INEC, it was stated that he graduated “with honors” (This means graduating with one of the best grades in the whole faculty and school in general). However, the document presented by CSU doesn't reflect this.

Certificate presented by Tinubu

Certificate released by CSU

In a deposition detailing its compliance with the court order, the university confirmed it was able to grant three of Atiku’s four requests.

Responding to one of the requests it granted, the university said, “after diligent search,” it was able to locate and produce seven different certificates for the Bachelor of Science degree it issued in 1979.

Atiku had requested the documents to compare them with the one presented by Tinubu for the 2023 presidential election.

Recall that a United States District Court in Northern Illinois had on Saturday, Sept. 30, ordered the Chicago State University (CSU) to release the academic records of Tinubu to Atiku.

The development came after a U.S Judge, Nancy Maldonado, adopted all the ruling of Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the U.S. District Court.

Tinubu had objected to the Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert ruling ordering the immediate release of the academic records by the CSU.

Justice Nancy Maldonado in a judgment dismissed the objection raised by Tinubu against Atiku’s request and expressly ordered that the CSU must submit the academic records to Atiku.