Kalu Kalu, a lawyer, has said that the primary concern regarding the Chicago State University (CSU) certificate controversy should revolve around President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s disqualification for the presidency.
He said this follows legal provisions due to the president’s presentation of a counterfeit certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as confirmed by a CSU official.
In an interview with Arise Television on Thursday, Kalu stated that Nigerian media outlets have altered the narrative surrounding Atiku Abubakar’s petition, both in its initial presentation and throughout the subsequent appeal process.
He said, “The case of Atiku Abubakar is on whether the certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC was forged or not.”
He claimed that the media had yet to take a firm stance on the oral testimony given by the registrar of CSU about the certificate that Tinubu provided to INEC, regarding whether the university confirmed issuing that certificate to Tinubu.
According to the legal perspective, he asserted that the narrative should focus on Tinubu’s lack of eligibility for the presidency due to his submission of a forged certificate to INEC rather than whether Tinubu actually attended CSU.
He further emphasised that the CSU registrar’s oral testimony openly acknowledged that the school did not issue the certificate Tinubu presented to INEC.
“Let me put it on record for the whole world to know that once you present a forged certificate, you are not qualified ab initio to run,” he said.
He stated that the law treats everyone equally, without showing favouritism to any individual, and regardless of identity, if the law deems a person ineligible due to forgery, the individual is indeed disqualified.
The lawyer also mentioned a CSU admission application form containing a statement attributed to Tinubu, asserting his attendance at Government College, Lagos, and graduation in 1970.
As per Kalu’s perspective, when considered carefully, it becomes evident that no spoken statement contradicts the information contained in a document.
In that document, it is revealed that the qualifying certificate which granted Tinubu admission to CSU indicated the attendance of a female at a government college in Lagos.
Following this information, he asserted that it was evident that Tinubu had also submitted a counterfeit certificate to CSU as part of his application for admission.
