Chicago State University at no time disowned the certificate submitted by President Bola Tinubu to INEC, as registrar Caleb Westberg said it is valid.
The certificate, along with Tinubu’s transcripts and letter of admission was certified by the former registrar Jamar Orr and given to Tinubu’s lawyer, Oluwole Afolabi.
On 24 July 2023, the current registrar Caleb Westberg in an affidavit deposed at the Circuit Court off Cook County in Illinois, also submitted that the certificate is valid.
He deposed as follows:
Caleb Westberg, first being duly sworn, states that if called to testify in this matter, I am over eighteen years of age and could competently testify as to the factscontained herein, and do affirm as follows:
I am employed as the Registrar of Chicago State University and am authorized to submit this Affidavit on its behalf.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu graduated and was awarded adegree fromChicago State University on June 22, 1979.
Chicago State University provided a diploma to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and subsequently provided a certified (or official) copy of that diploma. Both are valid and authentic diplomas of Chicago State University.
There are certain differences between the diploma and the certified copy because all diplomas are signed by the current President/Board Chair. There are also differences in the font and seal on the diploma versus the certified copy because the
University updated its font and seal after thediploma was issued.
The difference in the date of award on the diploma versus the certified copy is likely the result of human error. The graduation date on the certified copy is typed in manually by a person and can be inaccurate.
In the United States of America, institutions of higher education often consider the diploma to be a ceremonial document.
The official records of Chicago State University reflect and verify that Bola
Ahmed Tinubu graduated and was awarded a degree as stated above.
On Wednesday,Senior Special Assistant on media to President Tinubu, Temitope Ajayi similarly debunked the lie that the certificate was fake.
Ajayi on X said that CSU affirmed under oath that Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution and that the school does not handle replacements for lost certificates.
He said there was no truth in the forgery claim, adding that no person can forge a certificate he already has.
Ajayi wrote: : “We should be clear. In the deposition made by the Chicago State University, there was nowhere the University said the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is fake.
“The University insisted under oath that President Tinubu graduated with honours and even at that, replacements for lost certificates are done by vendors not the University.
“The claim that President Tinubu submitted fake certificate to INEC does not make sense. A man can not forge the academic records he possesses. You can only forge what you don’t have.”
credit: PM News
