The camp of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Tinubu to resign from office over the controversy surrounding his academic record with the Chicago State University.
Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibe who made the call said the issue regarding Tinubu’s academic record has become a national embarrassment.
The aide was of the opinion that Tinubu had made Nigeria and Nigerians a laughing stock at the international level and the only way for him to rectify it is by resigning.
He made the call ahead of the resumption of the court case on Monday in a petition in which Atiku’s legal team is seeking a court order for the Chicago State University to release Tinubu’s academic records.
It would be recalled that a United States District Judge, Nancy Maldonado, had on Thursday agreed to stay an order directing Chicago State University to make Tinubu’s academic document available to Atiku’s legal team after the president’s lawyers filed an emergency motion seeking a delay in the implementation of the order directing the CSU to comply with Atiku’s subpoenas till Monday.
Reacting to the development, Ibe said no matter the delay tactics employed by Tinubu and his legal team, the academic records would be released.
“If Tinubu is a first-class graduate like he claims, it will be in his best interest and that of over 200 million Nigerians, for him to take a first-class decision of resigning. This is the only way that he can save Nigeria and its people of this embarrassment and laughing stock that it has become.
“He is a national embarrassment, a regional embarrassment, a continental embarrassment, and an embarrassment to the Black race. If he still has any modicum of respect for himself and the people he claims to be leading, he should resign as President with immediate alacrity. No matter how long he tries to stall the process, the records that he has been hiding from Nigerians for decades will be discovered. He needs to be reminded that the United States is not Nigeria” Ibe told This Day on Saturday.
Atiku’s aide further accused Tinubu of plunging Nigerians into hardship with his economic policies.
“Look at the issues of the value of the Naira and the exchange rate. The meeting of the Central Bank Monetary Committee has been postponed. Things are just grinding to a halt. Nothing is happening because the committee that is supposed to provide the economic policies is not working.
“Nigeria is now on auto pilot and like a sick person receiving drips in the hospital. Things are just bad,” he added.
Speaking further, Ibe said Nigerians should be worried about why Tinubu is fighting tooth and nail to keep the details of his academic records with Chicago State University a secret.
“Nigerians have become the butts of the jokes. Mind you that one out of every five black men in the world is a Nigerian,” he said.
Ibe added that Tinubu’s academic record has monumental implications for Nigerians.
“If for any reason you want to change or get a new job and the new employers want to do due diligence, you write your alma mater to release your credentials to your would-be new employers. This is the case with the APC presidential candidate in the last presidential election, why should Bola Tinubu stop his school from releasing his credentials to the public?
“This is what should agitate the minds of Nigerians,” Atiku’s media aide submitted.