Daniel Bwala, who serves as an aide to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, has suggested a strategy for responding to Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo regarding President Bola Tinubu’s academic records from Chicago State University (CSU).
In a recent statement, Keyamo had insisted that Atiku Abubakar needed to locate the vendor responsible for issuing the replacement certificate to verify its authenticity.
This remark came in response to discussions comparing the situation to the academic certificate controversy surrounding former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Keyamo said, “Applying this principle to the case of Atiku Abubakar V Chicago State University, so long as the University openly said THEY DO NOT ISSUE REPLACEMENT CERTIFICATES, BUT THAT VENDORS DO SO ON THEIR BEHALF, all these noise about so-called forgery are useless until THE PARTICULAR VENDOR THAT ISSUED the replacement certificate to @officialABAT denies its authenticity.
“And it is the duty of the accuser to fish out the said vendor and get that evidence. It is not the other way round. He who alleges must prove.
“This is the simple principle I laid down in 2019 during our defence of President Buhari that has been so mischievously celebrated as if they have hit the bull’s eye.”
In his effort to undermine Keyamo’s defense, Bwala emphasized that the most effective approach to challenge the minister is to reference the legal case of ‘Keyamo versus House of Assembly.’
He cautioned that if Keyamo persists in defending the authenticity of Tinubu’s Chicago State University (CSU) records, he would present compelling evidence related to the statement Keyamo made under oath during that case.
He wrote, “Whenever @fkeyamo Festus Keyamo tries to give opinion on the @officialABAT Tinubu certificate forgery, just cite this case law “Keyamo V. House Of Assembly, Lagos State (2002)18 NWLR (Pt. 799) 605” — to him and ask him whether he still stands by the statement he made under Oath in that case, just like the CSU registrars statement under oath.
“If he says pim, we would produce what he stated in that law report. Damning stuff.”