Tinubu’s academic record : APC rubbishes Atiku, says ex-VP trying ‘to pressure Supreme Court’ – Newstrends
Connect with us

Politics

Tinubu’s academic record : APC rubbishes Atiku, says ex-VP trying ‘to pressure Supreme Court’

Published

on

APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka

Tinubu’s academic record : APC rubbishes Atiku, says ex-VP trying ‘to pressure Supreme Court’

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has hit hard on presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, over Thursday’s press conference on President Bola Tinubu’s academic record.

The ruling party, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, on Thursday, described Atiku as a serial bad loser, who is bent on dishing out lies after his presidential ambition hit the rocks.

APC also said the press conference addressed by Atiku was a calculated attempt to mount pressure on the Supreme Court, knowing fully well that his case regarding the election of Tinubu is before the apex court.

It dismissed the claim by the former Vice-President on the academic records of Tinubu in Chicago State University.

The statement reads in full : “The All Progressives Congress (APC) is unfazed by the press conference addressed by former Vice President and Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar earlier today. The press conference lacked purpose and delivered nothing except the pitiful regurgitation of lies, mindless distortions and deliberate falsehood on his infantile obsession with the academic record of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

For several weeks now, Nigerians and the world have watched with incredulity Alhaji Abubakar’s display of utter desperation in his failed bid to become the President of Nigeria.

READ ALSO:

Earlier today, he put his desperation in overdrive during his press conference where he addressed some of the issues in his appeal at the Supreme Court and bandying unproven charges against the President of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a calculated attempt to shamelessly whip up public sentiments and inordinately pressure the Supreme Court.

We believe Atiku should have known better than to demonstrate gross contempt of the highest court by making public comments on a matter that he has submitted to the court for adjudication.

The major takeaway from his Yar’Adua Centre show, especially at question time, was that Atiku harbours deep animosity towards Tinubu whom he believes was responsible for his electoral woes in 2007, 2015, 2019 and this year.

In desperation, unbecoming of a statesman who once occupied the second highest office in the land, the PDP candidate in the last election has thrown every decency, decorum, dignity and national respectability out the window on his purposeless judicial voyage of discovery to the United States in search of a magic wand for taking power against the will of the Nigerian electorate loudly expressed in last February’s presidential election.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar holds the unenviable title of Nigeria’s most prolific election loser and longest running presidential candidate in history, and we see his recent US fishing expedition as the last kick of a roundly rejected presidential aspirant.

While we sympathise with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for spending a lifetime pursuing unrealised dream, we strongly condemn the perfidious road he has taken and the needless negative exposure of Nigeria and the institution of the Presidency in foreign land.

Just for the record, we wish to provide some clarity on the matter of the deposition of Mr. Caleb Westberg, the Registrar of Chicago State University, last Tuesday under oath at the Chicago office of Atiku’s lawyer, Angela Liu, to save unsuspecting Nigerians from barrage of untruths, distortions and campaign of misinformation being dished out by Atiku and his PDP

READ ALSO:

Mr. Westberg was unmistaken and unambiguous in his deposition as to the fact that President Bola Tinubu graduated with honours from Chicago State University. He also emphatically provided clear answers on all other issues raised which we can sum as follows:

1. That the person who is Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is the same person who attended Chicago State University.

2. He confirmed that a certain gentleman called Adeniji who had come forward to say he was Tinubu’s classmate was in fact a student at CSU at the same time and they both ran for student union positions.

3. Mr. Westberg said the diploma certificate, on which the PDP and Atiku seek to gaslight Nigerians and the whole world, is just a ceremonial document and what proved studentship at Chicago State University and in any American university is transcript, not certificate.

Furthermore, he stated that the ‘F’ on the Southwest college certificate, a feeder institution to CSU, which President Bola Tinubu used to gain admission into CSU was a clerical error which could of course happen. He reiterated that Southwest College was a major feeder source for CSU.

4. He said the person admitted based on the transcript from South West College, was a male Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Westberg also added the courses taken by President Bola Tinubu at Southwest College were consistent with the courses he took at CSU.

Westberg further deposed that Accounting is a rigorous field of study. Anyone who did not take the requisite courses at the lower levels could not have done well at CSU.

In President Tinubu’s case, he did excellently well at CSU. He graduated with High Honours. That to him point to the fact that the person who attended and graduated from CSU was the same person who went to Southwest College

5. He pointed out that CSU has had at least six Registrars since 1979 and in an affidavit at an Illinois court prior to the deposition said “Chicago State University provided a diploma to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and subsequently provided a certified (or official) copy of that diploma. Both are valid and authentic diplomas of Chicago State University”.

READ ALSO:

“He said further that the difference in the date of award on the diploma versus the certified copy is likely the result of human error. The graduation date on the certified copy is typed in manually by a person and can be inaccurate”.

6. Mr. Westberg noted that by practice, CSU does not replace certificates for students as they are issued by 3rd party vendors which is also a common practice by other US universities. The proof of attendance and graduation remains the transcripts.

7. There is also no part of Mr. Westberg’s deposition where he said that the certificate President Bola Tinubu presented to INEC for his election is fake or was forged. All the insinuations and innuendos in this regard are pure mischief and should be disregarded. President Tinubu could not have forged a University degree he honourably earned because there is no advantage to derive from such and no incentive to do so.

It should now be clear to all Nigerians that despite Atiku’s lies before the Illinois Court that he wanted to use the discoveries in pursuit of his appeal at the Supreme Court, he has rather chosen to use same as an instrument of mischief and blackmail in clear contempt of the highest court of the land.

We want to urge former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to graciously accept his defeat and quietly lick his political wound with some dignity. Nigerians rejected him at the polls, and he cannot get by subterfuge what he failed to get through the ballot box.

Nigerians validly elected President Tinubu to revamp our economy, restore security, create jobs, provide transformative infrastructure, improve electricity supply and enhance the living conditions of the masses.

President Tinubu has undertaken to serve Nigerians and he will not be distracted by a man who has consistently failed to achieve his self-serving and brutal quest to become Nigeria’s president.”

Tinubu’s academic record : APC rubbishes Atiku, says ex-VP trying ‘to pressure Supreme Court’

Politics

Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

Published

on

IIiya Umar Damagum

Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

Few days after governors on the platform of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) handed down an ultimatum for things to change in the party, the Acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagun has moved against the FCT Minister and his loyal lawmakers, the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Damagun in a letter addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dated 13th November 2024 and released on Sunday by the spokesperson of the Opposition Lawmakers Coalition, Ikenga Ugochinyere urged the electoral umpire to conduct a bye-election to fill up the 27 seats, they vacated to join the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Wike has been accused of being behind the crisis in the PDP over his disagreement with the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, his successor.

The crisis which started over control of resources divided the party in the state with 27 lawmakers in the state assembly siding Wike and defected to the APC following Wike’s acceptance to serve in the government of the APC.

He has also been accused of working in cahoots with Damagun to damage the PDP by not organising the National Executive Committee which would lead to the acting Chairman’s ouster.

After a series of agitation, the latest being from the PDP Governors’ Forum over the weekend, Damagun has demanded that INEC conduct elections as soon as possible, apparently moving against the FCT minister.

He argued in letter titled, ‘DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE CONDUCT OF FRESH ELECTION IN 27 STATE CONSTITUENCIES OF RIVERS STATE WHICH HAVE BECOME VACANT PURSUANT TO SECTION 109(1)(g) OF THE CONSTITUTION’ that it’s “unlawful” for the 27 members to defect.

READ ALSO:

The members defected to the APC on December 11, 2023.

Damagun said, going by provisions of the Constitution, the lawmakers are no longer members of the Assembly.

The PDP acting chairman therefore urged the Commission to perform its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting fresh elections to fill the vacancies created in the 27 state constituencies by the unlawful act of the former Assembly members.

Parts of the letter read, “The Leadership of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wishes to draw the attention of the Commission to the gross violation of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly following their unlawful defection from our Party, the PDP who sponsored their elections to the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Monday, December 11, 2023.

“The Commission may recall that our Party, the PDP nominated all our 32 State House of Assembly candidates in Rivers State for the 2023 General Election on the 7th of July 2022 via your electronic candidate election nomination portal (See attached acknowledgement).

“The Commission may also recall that following the nomination, the Commission conducted election into the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 18th of March, 2023 and our Party won 32 seats in the state Assembly. The elected State House of Assembly members were inaugurated and sworn-in on June, 2023.

“However, on Monday, 11 December, 2023 a period of just six (6) months after inauguration, 27 out of the 32 members publicly announced their defection from our Party to the All Progressive Congress (APC). This defection is a gross violation of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended).

“The only two grounds of division and merger provided for in the Constitution that permit such defection are completely non-existent in our political Party. It therefore means that the defections of the 27 members are without lawful excuse and these members have vacated their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly by the operations of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.

“In view of the foregoing, we hereby demand that the Commission performs its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting a Fresh Election to fill the vacancies created in the 27 State Constituencies by the unlawful act of the Assembly members. Find attached the list of the 27 State Assembly Members and their Constituencies.

“While thanking the Commission for its commitment to deepening democracy in our country, please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”

Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

Continue Reading

Politics

Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe

Published

on

Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe

 

Nigeria would have been better than what it is currently if Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), had won the 2023 elections, the senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said.

Abaribe, who spoke on ‘Politics Today,’ a Channels Television programme, on Monday, said Obi would not have been as nepotistic as the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

“Number one, he would not be as nepotistic as this government; he won’t; it’s not in him. That is just who we are; we feel for the other people.”

The lawmaker called attention to Tinubu’s appointment of four ministers from Ogun alone, noting that many other states have just one.

“I say it, and I don’t think so. We are seeing it everyday. I just gave you one example. How can Ogun state have four ministers? Why does he favour Ogun state? Oyo state has only one minister,” Abaribe said.

”The nepotism of Buhari, which nobody followed, has now deepened under President Tinubu because Buhari did it, and nobody said much. I was the only person shouting.”

He said that rather than waiting for presidents to be fair to the people of the south-east, it is high time people of the zone went back to revamp it, make it more livable, better, and more cohesive.

“It’s obvious that if we continue to look at whoever becomes president, they will look at us and do us right. Apart from Obasanjo and maybe Jonathan, I do not think that we have seen that same type of fairness,” he said.

Continue Reading

Politics

Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

Published

on

Seyi Tinubu

Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, has been tipped for the seat of Lagos governor in the 2027 governorship election.

This was according to a video making the rounds on various social media platforms, which Peoples Gazette saw on Sunday.

The video highlights the president’s son’s biography, focusing on his education, career, and humanitarian activities as a Nigerian. It also documents his involvement in youth development in the country.

This biopic comes on the heels of some groups’ endorsements of Mr Tinubu’s son as a potential successor to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2027.

READ ALSO:

On Tuesday, the Coalition of Nigerian Youth Leaders issued an endorsement in Owerri, Imo, suggesting that the younger Tinubu would be welcomed to contest the governorship seat in Osun or Imo.

He was also endorsed by Friends of Seyi, a group emphasising his vision and intellectual wherewithal to govern the country’s commercial nerve.

APC chieftain Joe Igbokwe, however, described the gale of endorsements as a ploy to undermine the president in a Facebook post.

“Who are these faceless people pushing Seyi Tinubu for Lagos governor? This is a needless distraction,” said Mr Igbokwe. “To pull PBAT down is their target. Ruling Lagos is not the job of boys.”

Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

Continue Reading

Trending