Johnson Ayantunji 
A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the National Chairman, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu Support Group (AATSG), Otunba Yomi Odunowo, has carpeted candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over what he termed “pitiful regurgitation of lies, mindless distortions and deliberate falsehood on his infantile obsession” with the academic records of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Odunowo, who made these remarks in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Seyi Shodipo, over the weekend, noted that for several weeks now, Nigerians and the world had watched with incredulity Atiku’s display of utter desperation in his failed bid to become the President of Nigeria through the back door by bandying unproven charges against President Tinubu in a calculated attempt to shamelessly whip up public sentiments and inordinately pressure the Supreme Court.
He said that in desperation, Alhaji Atiku had thrown every decency, decorum, dignity and national respectability into the dustbin on his purposeless judicial voyage of discovery to the United States in search of a magic wand to take power against the will of the Nigerian electorate loudly expressed in the February presidential polls with the election of President Bola Tinubu.
The Ogun State APC chieftain, who sympathised with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for spending a lifetime pursuing an unrealised dream, however, condemned the perfidious road he had taken and the needless negative exposure of Nigeria and the institution of the Presidency in foreign land.
According to Odunowo, the deposition of Mr. Caleb Westberg, the Registrar of Chicago State University, was unmistaken and unambiguous as to the fact that President Bola Tinubu graduated with honours from Chicago State University and also provided clear answers on all other issues raised.
He noted that it was interesting that Mr. Westberg confirmed that a certain gentleman called Adeniji who said he was Tinubu’s classmate was in fact a student at CSU at the same time where both ran for student union positions and that the person who is Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the same person who attended Chicago State University (CSU)
Odunowo said: “Mr Westberg had equally shed more light on the ‘F’ on the Southwest College certificate, a feeder institution to CSU, which President Bola Tinubu used to gain admission into CSU that it was a clerical error, which could of course happen.”
The AATSG National Chairman applauded the CSU Registrar for clarifying that the difference in the date of award on the diploma versus the certified copy was likely the result of human error and also that the graduation date on the certified copy was typed in manually by a person and could be inaccurate.
He further added that there was also no part of Mr Westberg’s deposition where he said that the certificate President Tinubu presented to INEC for his election was fake or forged, stressing that all the insinuations and innuendos in this regard were pure mischief and should be disregarded.
He added: ” President Tinubu could not have forged a university degree he honourably earned because there is no advantage to derive from such and records even showed he graduated with distinction and was in fact on the Vice Chancellor’s Honour List for all his years in the school.”
Odunowo urged Atuku to graciously accept his defeat with some dignity, more so that Nigerians rejected him at the polls and he shouldn’t get by subterfuge what he failed to get through the ballot box.
He stressed that Nigerians validly elected President Tinubu to revamp the nation’s economy, restore security, create jobs, provide transformative infrastructure, improve electricity supply and enhance the living conditions of the people and should not be distracted by a man who had consistently failed to achieve his quest to become Nigeria’s president.
