The Chicago State University (CSU), has confirmed that Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu indeed attended and graduated from the university in 1979.

With the confirmation, institution has put to rest speculations that Tinubu did not attend the school nor graduate from there.

The clarification became necessary following The clarification from the CSU is coming following disputes over the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria which was won by Tinubu which led to a petition from the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP), Atiku Abubakar, questioning the authenticity of Tinubu’s educational qualifications.

In the petition seeking a nullification of Tinubu’s victory at the polls, Atiku had claimed that documents showing that the President graduated from the Chicago State University in 1979 were not authentic.

According to Atiku, the photocopy of Tinubu’s certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and purportedly issued and signed by the University President, Elnora Daniel, in 1979, was fake as Daniel didn’t arrive at CSU until 1998 and left about ten years later.

At a hearing in Chicago early this week, Atiku had, through his lawyers, asked Judge Jeffrey Gilbert of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to compel CSU officials to hand over Tinubu’s academic documents and to compel him to appear for depositions, a request the judge did not rule on.

But in a statement released on Friday clarifying its position on the controversies surrounding the President’s educational status, the University said it can confirm Tinubu graduated from the institution but could not however, authenticate the diploma because, according to the statement, it was just a ceremonial document that is not part of a student’s official academic file.

The statement issued by a spokeswoman for the institution reads:

“As an educational institution, we are sometimes asked to provide information related to student records. Federal law known as FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protects the privacy of student records and limits what an institution can release.

“In August 2023, a request was made in U.S. federal court for the university to provide information related to educational records concerning Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, and a former CSU student.

“The university has confirmed Tinubu attended CSU and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree. Federal law, however, prevents us from providing any further information without consent or unless allowed to do so via court order.”

“CSU is confident in the veracity and integrity of our records regarding Tinubu’s completion of graduation requirements and degree certificate. The university is not a party to the Nigerian legal proceedings that spurred this request, and a U.S. federal judge will determine whether the university will provide further requested information.

“Our response to the request for Tinubu’s academic records has been entirely consistent with our practices, policies and federal law. We would respond in exactly the same manner for any request for any student information by a third party,” the statement added.