No evidence say Nigeria president forge college record

Evidence no dey say di diploma wey Nigeria President Bola Ahmed Tinubu submit to di kontri electoral commission na fake, di BBC Global Disinformation Team don find out.

Allegations say President Tinubu certificates na fake bin go viral on social media after di Chicago State University (CSU) release im academic records last week.

We don look at some of di claims wey circulate well well.

Di release of di president academic documents na di result of one judicial case wey one of im main rivals for di February presidential election Atiku Abubakar of di Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bin file for August.

Oga Abubakar bin dey hope say dem go disqualify Tinubu afta e accuse am say im fake di CSU diploma of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration wey dem award am for 1979 wey im submit to di electoral authority (Inec).

To obtain evidence for im case for Nigeria, Oga Abubakar approach one US court for August and request dem to force CSU to release Oga Tinubu academic records through one process called discovery, where di parties exchange information including documents ahead of one trial.

Oga Tinubu lawyers oppose di discovery application and cite privacy concerns, but di US court tok say make dem proceed.

Di documents wey Oga Abubakar request na:

- One copy of any diploma wey CSU issue for 1979
- One copy of di diploma wey CSU give Oga Tinubu for 1979
- Copies of diplomas wit di same font, seal, signatures, and wording wey CSU award to oda students wey dey similar to wetin dem award to Oga Tinubu for 1979
- Documents from CSU wey dey certified by Jamar Orr, wey be staff member of CSU den, for di 12 months from 1 August 2022

In response to request one, CSU bin submit seven diplomas wey cover different disciplines wit di names of di students covered. According to di university registrar, di students no collect di diplomas.

In response to request two, CSU tok say dem no fit find di diploma wey dem issue to Oga Tinubu for 1979 sake of say dem no dey keep copies of diplomas wey students don already collect.

In response to request three, CSU tok say dem produce one replacement for Oga Tinubu wey dem date 27 June 1979. Dem also release diplomas wey dem award to oda students wey get similar font, seal, signatures and wordings like Oga Tinubu diplomas.

In response to request four, CSU bin submit oda academic documents wey Oga Orr attest to and release.

In line wit di judge ruling, Oga Abubakar lawyer Angela Liu last week question Caleb Westberg, CSU current registrar, for one deposition.

Oga Abubakar tok-tok pesin Phrank Shaibu give di BBC access to di deposition transcript.

Some social media users for Nigeria allege say di deposition and di diplomas wey CSU release confirm di say di diploma wey Oga Tinubu submit to Inec dey forged. One of Oga Abubakar lawyer Kalu Kalu also repeat dis claim for one press conference last week.

We find out say evidence no dey to support dis claim.

Di CSU bin release several diplomas between 1979 and 2003. We analyse all of dem.

E get three different Oga Tinubu diplomas wey we refer to throughout our analysis:

- Di original one, from 1979, wey im tok say e lost wen im go on exile in di 1990s
- Di second one, wey im submit to Inec - wey be like say na replacement diploma from CSU (e dey similar to diplomas wey CSU issue in di 1990s)
- Additionally, CSU hold anoda replacement diploma for Oga Tinubu wey dem say na from early 2000s wey im no collect
- Di allegations on social media dey based on a comparison between di document Oga Tinubu submit to Inec and di 1979 diplomas wey CSU release.

During Mr Westberg deposition, Oga Atiku lawyer focus on di copy of di diploma President Tinubu hand to di electoral commission and suggest say e no be like any oda diplomas wey CSU release.

However, while Oga Westberg agree wit Ms Liu say di diploma in question no look like di samples from 1979, e tok say di certificate actually look like three of di diplomas CSU release to Oga Abubakar. Our analysis confirm dis.

E turn out say di difference for di appearance of di diploma na sake of say dem re-issue am in di 1990s.

Oga Westberg tok say di template of CSU diploma don change several times over di years. R tok say any request for a new diploma go resemble di current template for dat time, no mata wen di student graduate.

As such, if Oga Tinubu bin reorder im diploma in di late 1990s, wetin im go get go be like wetin dem dey use dat time.

Three of di diplomas dating from di 1990s wey CSU submit dey similar to Oga Tinubu own.

One of dem, wey bear di date 18 December 1998, be like (apart from di names, class of degree, and dates) di diploma Oga Tinubu hand over to Inec.

Oga Westberg also tok say CSU no dey keep notes of wen a graduate ask for di re-issuing of a diploma and diafor dem no keep record of Oga Tinubu's request for a copy of di diploma.

For di copy im give to di election commission, part of di university logo dey miss, and Oga Westberg tok for im deposition say e dey possible say e "cut off" wen dem photocopy am.

We analyse di diploma. E appear say di bottom part no dey included during di photocopy process.

Di BBC reach out to Oga Tinubu team to get a copy of di diploma in question. Dem send wetin dem tok say na di only existing copy of di diploma. Na black and white photocopy wey dey identical to wetin im submit to Inec.

Anoda claim, wey one fact-checking organisation for Nigeria make be say di diploma wey Oga Tinubu submit no come from CSU as dia diplomas no dey get di phrase "with honors" under di degree name.

But di BBC find out say while e no dey reflected for oda diplomas wey CSU release, e dey for Oga Tinubu diploma likely issued for di early 2000s, wey Oga Wesberg authenticate during im deposition.

E get di words "with honors" - a match wit di diploma wit di same detail wey di president submit to Inec.

Oga Westberg tok say di school no fit authenticate dis particular diploma sake of say e still dey for dia possession as dem neva pick am up.

Not evri student graduate from university wit honours. Oga Tinubu, as attested by CSU for several court documents wey di BBC see, graduate from CSU wit honours.

Di BBC contact CSU wit questions about dia diplomas and dem refer us to one statement wey read in part: "We dey confident like we always dey for di veracity and integrity of our records regarding Tinubu attendance and completion of graduation requirements".

Anoda allegation wey go viral on social media be say di pesin wey attend CSU wit di name Bola A Tinubu na female.

Oga Tinubu attend Southwest College (wey don turn to Richard J. Daley College) before im transfer to CSU for 1976. For Southwest transcript, e get "F" (for "female") for column where gender dey indicated, and e lead to claims say na woman attend di school and Oga Tinubu "steal her identity". Oga Atiku lawyer, Oga Kalu, tok dis for one press conference last week.

However, for im deposition, Oga Westberg stress say confusion no dey about di gender of di pesin wey attend CSU as na male wey im name be Bola A Tinubu. E tok say di university use oda factors apart from di name to authenticate di student identity.

According to am, di Social Security Number (SSN) wey dey for di transcript from Southwest College match wetin dem get for oda documents where di student gender dey marked as male.

Di released documents don also raise questions about Oga Tinubu birth date and di secondary school im attend.

One of di documents tok say Oga Tinubu attend Government College Lagos for 1970. However, information wey dey available on di school website tok say dem establish am for 1974.

Apart from di gender difference, di birth dates for some di release documents different from di official birth date of President Tinubu, wey be 29 March 1952.

Im transcript from CSU get im date of birth as 29 March 1954. Im undergraduate admissions application form get im date of birth as 29 March 1955.

Oga Atiku lawyer tok say during Oga Westberg deposition say on di forms submitted to Inec Oga Tinubu don give im date of birth as 29 March 1952.

Oga Westberg, during cross-examination, respond say di difference fit be human error.

We contact Oga Tinubu team for comment about dis differences and one tok-tok pesin dirct us to im party instead - di All Progressives Congress. We kon contact Oga Tinubu presidential campaign tok-tok pesin Festus Keyamo wey also a minister for di goment. Im no pick our calls or respond to text and WhatsApp messages.

We also send questions to Oga Abubakar team. Dem no respond.