BBC Africa published a report on President Bola Tinubu’s certificate, titled ‘Bola Tinubu diploma: No evidence Nigeria’s president forged college record’, on Wednesday.

FIJ has found inconsistencies in the report from the BBC’s disinformation team.

FIJ had fact-checked Tinubu’s academic profile after the Chicago State University (CSU) released his academic records to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in early October.

From the documents made available by CSU, FIJ found that the replacement certificate Tinubu presented to the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) did not emanate from the university. FIJ came to this conclusion after it compared replacement certificates issued in the 1990s with the one Tinubu submitted to INEC ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

Tinubu’s certificate had some missing features, including the year ‘1867’ which appeared on every other CSU sample. FIJ also found that a signature on the lower right of the certificate appeared legible in a position that was lower than where the year should have appeared, meaning, the signature should have suffered a similar fate if poor photocopying really cropped the year out.

Of particular interest was the expression, ‘with honors’, which appeared on the certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC. None of the 1990s samples provided by CSU showed those words underneath the course of study, and this suggests that Tinubu’s certificate, which was supposedly obtained within the same timeframe, did not emanate from the school. The BBC, however, highlighted FIJ’s conclusion in its report, claiming it was arrived at in error.

CLAIM: FIJ’s claim that the certificate President Tinubu presented to INEC didn’t emanate from CSU is wrong.

“Another claim, made by a fact-checking organisation in Nigeria, was that the diploma Mr Tinubu submitted was not from CSU as its diplomas do not include the phrase “with honors” under the degree name,” the BBC reported.

“But the BBC found that while this was not reflected in the other diplomas released by CSU, it does appears in Mr Tinubu’s diploma issued in the early 2000s, which was authenticated by Mr Westberg during his deposition.

“It has the words “with honors” – a match with the diploma with the same detail submitted by the president to Inec”.

On this premise, the BBC claimed the certificate Tinubu initially issued to INEC was not forged, and that FIJ was wrong.


VERIFICATION: BBC, CSU and every other certificate disagree

For context, the BBC relied on three different Tinubu certificates for its analysis:

The original one, from 1979, which he has said in the past was lost when he went into exile in the 1990s
The second one, that he submitted to Inec – supposedly a replacement diploma from CSU (it is similar to diplomas issued by CSU in the 1990s)
Additionally, CSU holds another replacement diploma for Mr Tinubu that they say is probably from the early 2000s that he never collected (BBC: Bola Tinubu diploma: No evidence Nigeria’s president forged college record)
From the bulleted points above, it is clear that Tinubu only obtained a replacement certificate from the CSU in the 1990s, and from the samples provided by the CSU in its deposition, certificates issued in the 1990s did not include the expression ‘with honors’. The BBC also clearly states in its report that “any request for a new diploma would resemble the current template at that time, no matter when the student graduated”. This renders BBC’s verification of Tinubu’s 1990s certificate with one issued in the 2000s illogical.

Until the CSU provides another certificate from the 1990s which has ‘with honours’, there are only two reasonable explanations for Tinubu’s certificate. One is that it did not emanate from the CSU. Two, whoever created the controversial certificate in Tinubu’s possession copied the template of the 2000s without paying attention to timeframe variations. This is clear in one of the signatures on Tinubu’s certificate. The signature on the right is that of Zaldwaynaka “Z, the current President of CSU, who took office in 2018. A president who took office in 2018 could not have signed a certificate supposedly released in the 1990s.

More importantly, Westberg admitted in his deposition that the certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC was not from CSU.

CONCLUSION

There’s no proof that the certificate Tinubu presented to INEC emanated from CSU. Whether third-party recreation of certificates is wrong in the US is a topic for another day.

VERDICT: BBC Africa’s claim that FIJ erred in its report is false.

https://fij.ng/article/fact-check-on-tinubus-certificate-theres-evidence-bbc-africa-is-wrong/

The editor that edited this is good

Dis is bad

ganisucks:
Nigerians should go to BBC and report the writers for creating and sharing false information. BBC should have standards.

Follow this link to report Chigozie Nwonwu and his fellow writers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint

The BBC won't fire the journalists for doing their job. You obidients can report all you want.

The BBC report really pain you obidients

NLCreator:
Until the CSU provides another certificate from the 1990s which has ‘with honours’, there are only two reasonable explanations for Tinubu’s certificate. One is that it did not emanate from the CSU. Two, whoever created the controversial certificate in Tinubu’s possession copied the template of the 2000s without paying attention to timeframe variations. This is clear in one of the signatures on Tinubu’s certificate. The signature on the right is that of Zaldwaynaka “Z, the current President of CSU, who took office in 2018. A president who took office in 2018 could not have signed a certificate supposedly released in the 1990s.

More importantly, Westberg admitted in his deposition that the certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC was not from CSU.

CONCLUSION

https://fij.ng/article/fact-check-on-tinubus-certificate-theres-evidence-bbc-africa-is-wrong/

The person who wrote this article is daft... Abeg shey nah every Americans they graduate with honours? To graduate "with honours" mean you graduated with a very good result

How many students do graduate with first class?

The CSU registrar explained why the president graduated with honours from CSU and the school also provide 2 different kinds of certificate that looks like the one tinubu tendered to INEC.

Chicago state university said nothing is wrong with the certificate but a certain journalist in fij is saying something is wrong with it

CilicMarin:
These rodents from SadEAST wont rest..

The kind tears dripping down their cheeks since the BBC article surfaced can flood upper Iweka.

Ndi eriri!

They are so pained by the article

BBC no b Arise TV

No matter how far Tinubu's supporters go, it won't change the fact on ground that he is a packaged fraud.

Nigeria!

Gbam

Agbado ni 🌽

What is an fij abi na ffj

Must be one of those Obidients media houses.

Well.

ganisucks:
Nigerians should go to BBC and report the writers for creating and sharing false information. BBC should have standards.

Follow this link to report Chigozie Nwonwu and his fellow writers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint

Report and wail from now till the next 100 years, BBC is a world class organization that would verify article before it's posted; hence, it would not fire its high quality journalists for some Obidient cult fascist behaviors.

Since compromised Nigérians started taking sensitive positions at the BBC, the once-revered world broadcaster lost its relevance.

Who be ffj again?, Lol. Na Atiku dollar go suffer.

CilicMarin:
These rodents from SadEAST wont rest..

The the amount tears dripping down their cheeks since the BBC article surfaced can flood upper Iweka.

Ndi eriri!

Are you not referring to your family?

Lol Local Champion sha wants to get noticed.....


They sha wan force derr own narrative on another platform..,


Publish ur own findings and stop crying about other platform findings,...

Is BBC the Supreme court or CSU so why the tears must every platform go with ur own narrative....

No amount of lie telling and propaganda is gonna obliterate the fact that Tinubu forged CSU diploma certificate and impersonate a woman's certificate for which he enrolled with @ Richard Daley College. Tinubu criminality didn't start today.

Ebola is gone

I already said I won’t waste time on this nonsense propaganda song but I have fact-checked Fij myself and saw that they are liars. So I need to call them out.

The copy of the certificate they are comparing is not what should be compared.

CSU already said when they issue a certificate, it always have the current format of the certificate they issue ti new student today.

So Mr. Ade graduated in 1979
Mrs. Shayo graduated in 2023

If Mr. Ade go to CSU to order for his replacement certificate in Oct 2023, CSU will offer him a replacement certificate that is identical to what they gave to Mrs. Shayo. The only difference is that the certificate will show date 1979 for Mr. Ade and then 2023 for Shayo. Everything stays the same including the signatures on the document and the school president name.


That is why you need to compare Tinubu replacement certificate with the 1999 copy of other students certificate. When you compare them, it is the same. BBC are so right and Fij is parading illiterates who don’t have brain to analyze.

Paraman:
The person who wrote this article is daft... Abeg shey nah every Americans they graduate with honours? To graduate "with honours" mean you graduated with a very good result

How many students do graduate with first class?

The CSU registrar explained why the president graduated with honours from CSU and the school also provide 2 different kinds of certificate that looks like the one tinubu tendered to INEC.

Chicago state university said nothing is wrong with the certificate but a certain journalist in fij is saying something is wrong with it

Be here explaining nonsense.

So Tinubu is the only student to have graduated from CSU with his set that managed to have a "first class" right? All other students were dummies, so they couldn't have possibly made a first class to merit a certificate labeled "with honours".

This is how you people will be walking around distorting the rudiments of truth and facts. No single sample of the CSU certificate brought to that court room had "with honours" attached anywhere. But somehow your Tinubu was the Einstein of the thousands of students to have graduated from CSU, hence the special recognition abi?

Tunde, foolishness has no numerical or financial value. Try and have sense!

Fij journalists are quacks.

How can you donate 1979 issued document format with that of 1999 even after the school has consistently said once they give out certificate, they don’t have it again in their file.

So why then will they now go and compare a 1998/1999 replacement certificate with another student 1979 certificate which he did not pick up?

I now agree foreign media parade more intelligent people than the aparo journalist we have in Nigeria. Abi how can BBC media guys who are Nigerians themselves have more brain than the combined journalist of most Nigerian newspaper who can’t think. The only thing they know is to copy news from eachother.

Paraman:
The BBC won't fire the journalists for doing their job. You obidients can report all you want.

The BBC report really pain you obidients

BBC or Asiwaju blogger. Make you and your BAT dey deceive yourselves.

Jostoman:
BBC or Asiwaju blogger. Make you and your BAT dey deceive yourselves.

BBC is working for tinubu

Tinubu na lordy abeg
He bought Inec
Bought CSU
Bought BBC

By law, it's only the institution that someone claim to have graduated that has the obligation to say if a certificate is authentic or not, in this case, csu has already denied tinubu's certificate on oath and atiku is presenting it to çourt so, there is nothing anybody will say that will change that.

NLCreator:


https://fij.ng/article/fact-check-on-tinubus-certificate-theres-evidence-bbc-africa-is-wrong/

you go explain tire

Clear as daylight. Meanwhile I can see it is Mynd who moved this topic to frontpage. Perhaps he isn't all we so sentimentally accuse him of being😁

Have you done your bit? I have. Although I forgot to include the other instance where an author posted another fact-check that turned out to be a hatchet job.

It would have flown if not for Google Cache. Ensure you include it in yours that it's not the first time the same person would be involved in such misdemeanour.