CFRPA wants court to disqualify Tinubu from 2027 race over allegation of certificate forgery

The suit, marked FHC/K/CS/312/2026, lists Tinubu, INEC, and Chicago State University as defendants.

As Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is turning what some concerned members of the public call “the deaf ears” to issues of forgery surrounding the certificate and discrepancies in universities President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 1999 and 2023 thus pr denying him him again as its presidential flagbearer for the 2027: election, a civil Society group has taken it upon itself to stop both the president.

The civil society organisation named Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFRPA), which is at the centre of the latest development, did so by filing a suit at the Federal High Court in Kano seeking the disqualification of the President from the 2027 presidential election over allegations of the certificate forgery.
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‎According to court documents, reportedly, the plaintiff alleged that Tinubu presented forged academic certificates from Chicago State University and a fake National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 elections.
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‎The suit, marked FHC/K/CS/312/2026, lists Tinubu, INEC, and Chicago State University as defendants.
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The plaintiff contended that Tinubu never attended Government College Lagos as claimed, noting that the school was established in 1974, four years after Tinubu allegedly graduated.

The CSO further argued that Tinubu does not possess a valid secondary school certificate, which is the minimum constitutional requirement to contest for the presidency.
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It claimed that INEC had failed to act on its petition dated June 19, 2026, demanding clarification on Tinubu’s eligibility.
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‎In its statement of claims, the group referenced a 2023 U.S. court ruling in In Re: Application of Atiku Abubakar (No. 23 CV 05099), which compelled Chicago State University to release Tinubu’s academic records.
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The plaintiff insisted those records revealed false entries and inconsistencies, including a forged University of Cambridge General Certificate of Education.
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‎The prayers asked by the plaintiff included declaration of forgery against Tinubu’s Chicago State University certificate, issuance of an order directing INEC to disqualify him from the 2027 presidential election, directing CSU to strike Tinubu’s name from its records and perpetual injunction restraining INEC from uploading Tinubu’s name as a candidate.
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‎The plaintiff also submitted affidavits of non-multiplicity of action, witness statements, and letters to the NYSC and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, demanding disclaimers on the alleged fake NYSC certificate.

It will be recalled that in 1999, human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, who was them boss to the current Minister of Aviation Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), had dragged Tinubu to court in Lagos over the certificate he claimed to have obtained from the “University of Chicago” under a sworn affidavit.

Tinubu at the time had submitted the certificate to the INEC as governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and went ahead to contest and win election as governor of Lagos State.

Nigerians had wondered when the same person, Bola Tinubu, in 2023 submitted certificate and academic records now bearing Chicago State University different from the earlier University of Chicago he claimed to the same INEC in 1999.

Vice President Atiku Abubakar had gone to court in the United States of America to demand for the release of Tinubu’s academic records by the Chicago State University, which the lower court in the foreign country granted but Tinubu appealed against the judgement at a higher court claiming that release of his academic records would cause him “irreparable damage”.

The US appeal court session, headed by a woman, questioned the rationale behind the appeal asking how release of academic records can cause the owner “irreparable damage” so long he truly own them. The woman judge thus not only ordered the Chicago State University to release the documents to Atiku but also ordered the university management to come before her and depose to