Reuben Abati, former spokesperson for ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday said it is disturbing that the riddle surrounding the academic qualifications of President Tinubu has remained unresolved for more than 20 years.
He spoke on Arise Television’s The Morning Show which was monitored by QUEST TIMES correspondent.
Abati was reacting to a claim by one Durojaiye Ogunsanya, a public affairs analyst, who said he was a classmate of President Tinubu at the Chicago State University (CSU).
During a chat with TVC on Monday, Ogunsanya had said he graduated alongside Tinubu at CSU from the Department of Accounting and Business Administration in 1979.
However, an investigative journalist, David Hundeyin punctured Ogunsanya’s claim, saying the name doesn’t exist and couldn’t be found on the internet until now.
Abati while speaking on the issue recalled how former President Muhammadu Buhari assembled his old classmates together when some people claimed he never attended school.
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He also recalled the case of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives when it was claimed that he never participated in the mandatory National Youth National Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
“ This matter of President Tinubu’s academic qualification for more than 20 years since he was governor. Why is it that when he was governor of Lagos state, nobody showed up to say they were in school together? This Durojaiye Ogunsanya or what is his name was not around over 20 years ago. In any case, if you look at him, he looks quite younger than the president”.
“When President Buhari was said not to have attended secondary school, he gathered his classmates, they took photographs with him in the villa. Why is it so difficult for Tinubu to do the same?:”
“When it was Dimeji Bankole’s time, within a week, people who were in NYSC camp with him threw pictures out. Why should this one has to take us 20 years?”
“I think we have to do something about qualification. Anybody that does not have a basic degree and anybody whose classmate will show up after 20 years or whose secondary school classmates have to come to the villa to validate, that is ridiculous”.
“ In a country where some people have three Masters degree or double PHDs, why is it that it is these division two and division three people that will be the ones saying that they will be the ones to rule Nigeria?”