By KEMI KASUMU
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Timi Frank, says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria deparate attempt to block the release of his Chicago State University’s academic records is embarrassing.
He asked the President to quit the act because of the implications it has on Nigerians’ image home and abroad.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Frank wondered what Tinubu had to hide that caused him to rush to appeal the decision of a US Magistrate Court ordering the university to divulge his academic records.
Tinubu had reportedly pleaded before a United States judge to stop the earlier court order compelling release of his recirds as sought by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate in thr February 25, 2023 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
He prayed the court with reason that the university releasing his academic records witj cause him “severe and irreparable harm”.
The President through his lawyer claimed that the damage he would suffer would be impossible to mitigate if the order directing the release of his academic records to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is not delayed for possible vacation.
According to the report, “Severe and irreparable harm will be done to Bola Tinubu if the records are released,” Tinubu’s lawyer had argued at an emergency appeal before Judge Nancy Maldonado of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
“If the records are released, harm will be done and cannot be taken back to the bottle,” Tinubu’s lawyer added.
“If you know you have clean academic records why are you fighting to stop their being released? What ‘severe and irreparable harm’ will you suffer if the records are released?” Frank queried.
He insisted that due to Tinubu’s desperate acts in seeking to conceal his academic records and other legal issues surrounding his persona, most world leaders are now avoiding him and this has hampered his administration’s much-publicised investments drive abroad.
“For instance, his much trumpeted proposed meeting with American President Joe Biden during the United Nations General Assembly in New York was silently canceled with no explanations from either Tinubu or Biden.
“However, we have it on good authority that Biden was warned by the US intelligence community to avoid such a meeting. Besides, Tinubu claimed to have gotten United Arab Emirates (Dubai) authorities to lift visa restrictions on Nigerians but this has since been proven to be a lie,” he said.
He called on Nigerians to own the fight to ensure that the President has authentic academic records and not to leave the efforts to an individual due to the potential political and diplomatic damage it can do to Nigeria if glossed over.
Frank said: “This fight should not be for Atiku Abubakar alone. Nigerians must rise up and demand to know the academic records of their President.
“Tinubu’s desperate attempt to buy time with his recent appeal is a huge embarrassment to Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora. Why does the court-ordered release of Tinubu’s academic records appear like a matter of life and death to the President?
“Tinubu, please stop embarrassing Nigerians through this do-or-die attempt to stop your academic records from being released. Nigerians are eager to know who their President really is.
