A civil society organisation, CSO, Centre for Leadership Legacy International, Centre LLI, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to uphold the highest integrity in his government by ensuring that any act capable of bringing his government into disrepute is not entertained.
In a statement signed by the Spokesman of the Centre, Davies Isaiah Ijele, the group urged President Tinubu to look deeply into the serial allegations of certificate forgery against his Minister of Interior, Olubumi Tunji-Ojo.
According to the statement, these allegations have become too weighty to be ignored, saying that if not properly handled, they can constitute a burden to the integrity rating or credibility of the government.
Recall that there have been repeated calls on President Tinubu and the DSS by concerned Nigerians for an investigation into the Minister of Interior’s alleged certificate forgery scandal.
The group alleged that the minister’s declaration in his official profile presented before the National Assembly for his 2019 House of Representatives run (INEC/EC9) listed his education as including a first degree from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and postgraduate study at London Metropolitan University.
It claimed that the degree from OAU has no date or year of graduation, while the master’s degree from a London university has 2006 as the year of graduation.
Secondly, the group alleged that during his 2023 Senate screening for a ministerial appointment, Tunji-Ojo presented an NYSC discharge certificate as part of the vetting paperwork, dated 2023, with an explanation that he had been first mobilised in 2006 but absconded, and was then remobilised later, while the discharge certificate was printed/issued in February 2023. That NYSC clarification is widely reported in the press.
Citing alleged discrepancies in Tunji-Ojo’s certificate claims, which it said are already in the public domain, with many questions being asked, the group insisted that the claims do not add up and, rather than clarifying the controversy, further complicate it.
The group in the statement expressed worry, saying, ” An interior minister of Nigeria, handling the internal security for the country, has a degree certificate from Obafemi Awolowo University with no record of year of graduation, and has a master’s degree from London Metropolitan University in 2006 and was mobilised for NYSC service in Nigeria in 2006.
“His NYSC couldn’t be completed, so he had to be remobilised in 2019 while already elected as a House of Representatives member that same 2019, and his NYSC certificate couldn’t be printed in 2023 for presentation as his highest qualification for ministerial screening in 2023?
“Again, there is the legality of being a corps member while serving as a lawmaker. Does the law allow that? These claims do not tally at all and leave more questions than answers, the statement said.
The group therefore urged President Tinubu to listen to Nigerians and wade into the discrepancies in Tunji-Ojo’s educational certificate controversies in the interest of the integrity and accountability of his government.
