Nigeria’s president faces new challenge to election victory as opposition claims he forged diploma

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s main opposition says it will present new evidence to support its court challenge seeking to overturn this year’s presidential election, saying it can show the declared winner provided faked academic credentials to authorities. First runner-up Atiku Abubakar and his lawyer alleged Thursday that President Bola Tinubu forged a diploma from an American university that he presented to Nigeria’s election commission before the February election. A spokesman for Tinubu has denied the allegation. In a transcript of a deposition, the registrar of Chicago State University says the school “has the original record of Bola Tinubu.” But the official says it has no record of issuing the diploma in question, which indicates Tinubu graduated in 1979.