In a press conference held in Abuja on Thursday, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, made it clear that he would only abandon his legal dispute with President Bola Tinubu if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the President.
The press conference was convened to address the release of President Tinubu’s academic records by the Chicago State University (CSU).
When questioned about the possibility of ending his legal battle against President Tinubu, Atiku responded, “The case is still in court. I’ll only drop this fight if the court rules. If the court rules that I’m right, fine, if the court rules that Tinubu is right, fine. There’s no other court higher than the Supreme Court. That is where it all ends.”
Atiku also refuted allegations that he betrayed Tinubu, a former political ally. He explained, “I disagree with Tinubu, yes it’s true that we came together in 2007. In Lagos, at the convention, I emerged winner and got the party’s ticket. After I got the ticket, he sent me about five or six senior party men, and they met me and said Bola (Tinubu) wanted to be my running mate.”
However, Atiku disclosed that he questioned the proposal for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, which led to the end of their political alliance. He clarified, “I vehemently deny that I stabbed Tinubu in the back. Till today, I won’t do a Muslim-Muslim ticket; I don’t have to be president; we are a multi-ethnic and multi-religious people, and our government must reflect our diversity, and our composition must reflect the same.”
The backdrop to this legal dispute is the release of President Tinubu’s education records by CSU through a court subpoena. These records, which were made public on October 3, raised questions about the authenticity of the 1979 CSU certificate submitted by Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for his presidential candidacy, as it appeared to differ from samples of certificates issued by the University to students in the same year. The legal feud between Tinubu and Atiku continues to be a focal point of political attention in Nigeria.
