UPDATED: El-Rufai finally confirms knowledge of Tinubu’s Chicago State University scandals

By OUR REPORTER

Although Chicago State University (CSU) academic records of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are no longer speculations as a Certified True Copy (CTC) of deposition was issued by United States of America’s appeal court to the effect, the issue has once again come up in the battle ahead of 2027.

It will be recalled that The DEFENDER had regularly reported how President Tinubu started playing the 2027 politics immediately after assuming office on May 29, 2025, especially when he – along with his allies including Abdullahi Umar Ganduje – battled to allegedly “rob” the Kano State electorates of their mandate willingly given to Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) during the 2023 governorship election for the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s candidate, Gawuna.

That crisis had since moved from politics leading to the Emirate tussle that has continued to rattle the nation’s political headquarters and commercial nerve centre till the present, with allegedly misinterpreted court rulings coming over an already delivered Court of Appeal verdict that not only upheld the repeal of Kano Emirate Council Law 2019 but also affirmed that Kano State Government has the powers to reappoint Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano.

Little did the president, the APC and their supporters remember the aspect of the US appeal court judgment that confirmed certificate forgery against Mr. Tinubu and which, though the Supreme Court in Nigeria made him escape in 2023, would still matter in 2027 when they decided to demolish the very goodwill of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, and Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai that now requires the cat be let out of the bag.

Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said he and his allies had hoped that President Tinubu would replicate his achievements in Lagos State at the national level reason he and his colleagues covered up the Chicago State University issues but that failed woefully.

El-Rufai explained that despite concerns about the President’s alleged certificate forgery from Chicago State University during the 2023 presidential election they backed him, believing he could transform Nigeria as he did Lagos.

“What pains me is that the government we supported and had confidence in would do well, because we saw what Tinubu did in Lagos despite his challenges,” El-Rufai told BBC Hausa in an interview on Saturday.

“We all know about his issues in Chicago, but we thought if he could replicate his work in Lagos for Nigeria, let’s support him. However, he failed,”

It would be recalled that The DEFENDER followed and published the Chicago case from earlier period of initiation by former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar in at the lower court in the United States till the last day at the Supreme Court here in Nigeria.

This global online newspaper, People’s Gazzete, and Sahara Reporters were the only papers reporting the case since the case started from the first court before they were joined much later by other local media. The court came into the picture because Chicago State University said it could not release information of a student to a third party. Then Atiku went to court to compel the university to release the academic records as they were needed for a purpose in Nigeria. Tinubu told the court to stop the release of his academic records but the court, after studying submissions of both parties, ordered the release.

Then Tinubu went to Appeal Court there in the US to say that he was not satisfied with the lower court judgement and that if the academic records were released, it would cause him “irreparable damages”.

The DEFENDER was always in touch with Tinubu’s presidential media office the to tell us their side of the story but to no avail as they (Ajuri Ngelale was still the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President) persistently ignored us by not responding to our media enquiries.

That statement of causing “irreparable damages” attracted the female judge’s special attention and she adjourned for further hearing. Upon resumption, she asked to know how release of academic records to show that one was not a fake student would cause him irreparable damages.

In the end, in a one page and little more page judgement, the female appeal court judge gave her verdict upholding judgment of the lower court.

She further told the university that it was not just that it must release the academic records of Mr. Bola A. Tinubu but also that it must bring same before her court and depose to them to give legal backing to the documents released.

That deposition took place and during the deposition, the university’s registrar, who had in an earlier affidavit that didn’t fly in the court confirmed authenticity of Tinubu’s certificate release to INEC, finally came out to confess its inauthenticity and CTC of that judgment and deposition was made available to Atiku, according to him.

Those who blame El-Rufai for now coming out to talk on the certificate forgery at this time have been replied as one of our respondent said, “Where El-Rufai can be blamed is, why did you have to cover up for Tinubu in a way that Supreme Court of Nigeria … by refusing to accept the US court judgment on the ground of lateness? Anyway whereas politicians did their own but their cover up did not invalidate the judgment of US appeal court which was given against Tinubu in his own appeal.”

In the meantime, El-Rufai has called on opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola, to unite under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to salvage the country.

“What I want and pray for is for all opposition leaders—Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola—to join the SDP,” he added.

El-Rufai also dismissed accusations that he betrayed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, stating that his past disagreements with Atiku during the Obasanjo administration were based on principle, not personal animosity.

“I never betrayed Atiku Abubakar because we didn’t meet in politics; we met at work. In work, if I see that he didn’t do well, whoever he is, I will tell him. I told Buhari, and I even took Buhari to court on the new naira issue,” he said.

“When Obasanjo and Atiku were having issues, those of us working with Obasanjo looked at the issues between them and said Obasanjo was more right. It was not about north and south; Obasanjo was right. Atiku and I are now together, and if I betrayed him, why are we together now.”