…warns opposition could exploit allegation against Tinubu
A member of the All Progressives Congress has called for the disqualification of Balo Tinubu, the National Leader of the party and a frontline presidential aspirant to be disqualified from the race.
Sagir Mai Iyali, in a letter dated May 17, 2022, described himself as “a card-carrying member” of the party and said that Tinubu should be stopped from the competition for alleged questionable educational qualifications”.
Iyali, who hails from Kano State, said the former governor of Lagos State did in 1999 provided false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission regarding his educational qualifications.
According to him:
“We understand that Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has since procured his expression of interest and nomination forms and has submitted the same to the party has certain issues that clearly amount to a similar disqualification scenario.
From the information contained in prior submissions to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), particularly in 1999, Mr. Tinubu presented a false claim, on oath, of his attendance at University of Chicago from 1972-1976.
It is clear now that these claims are false. Not only was this filed in the INEC form with a declaration on oath on December 20 1999, it was also contained in an affidavit of loss sworn to before the High Court of Lagos, Ikeja Registry, December 29th 1998.
The latter claim that seeks to transpose history is untenable. Mr. Tinubu has to show proof he attended University of Chicago or he must stand disqualified as the opposition is in possession of these same documents. Over the years, the identity of Asiwaju Bola Anmed Tinubu has been shrouded in secrecy,” he wrote.
The petitioner warned that APC cannot afford to be “too complacent at this point. Our party cannot afford to underestimate the opposition parties.” Continuing, he noted: Recent in our memory is the case of David Lyon in Bayelsa where the certificate forgery issue of his Deputy-Governor tainted the entire ticket and APC lost the seat to PDP.”
The demand comes as reports on Monday said Tinubu and others had been screened by the committee. The screening committee is headed by a former National Chairman, John Oyegun, who is also a former governor of Edo State.
Iyali copied Abdullahi Adamu, the APC chairman, as well as the Chairman of INEC in his letter.
