President Bola Tinubu is facing stiff legal challenges to his academic legitimacy and past controversies.
Newsmen reports that Tinubu and his legal team will head to the Supreme Court today to defend his victory in the last presidential election.
Tinubu may also be forced to defend the authenticity of his academic certificate from the Chicago State University (CSU). The controversy surrounding Tinubu's academic qualifications has been ongoing for many years. In 1999, when he was running for governor of Lagos State, he was accused of forging his academic certificates. Tinubu denied the allegations, but the controversy resurfaced during the 2023 presidential election.
In addition to the academic controversy, Tinubu is also facing scrutiny over his past. In the early 1990s, he was accosted in the United States over links to drug trafficking. Tinubu was never convicted of these charges, but the allegations have continued to follow him.
In the midst of these, there are doubts by many that the Nigerian leader may bow to pressure and resign his position as president.
The chairman of the board of Amnesty International, Nigeria, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, is one of those who do not expect Tinubu to resign despite the calls for his resignation.
In an interview with Newmen, Rafsanjani said that the Nigerian political scene has no ounce of integrity. He accused Nigerian politicians of not understanding public and personal integrity and said that the absence of integrity in the political sphere has destabilized governance and the order of things.
Rafsanjani said: "He will not resign because, in the first place, he has already told you that it is his own time. You will not expect him to resign since it has been personalised and acquired by all means. "Because of the absence of integrity in the political system, because power is seen as an accumulation of wealth, recklessness, and abuse of due process, the officials in Nigeria will not resign."
According to him, the only reason why Tinubu would resign is if there is an elitist consensus.
He said: "The only way that Tinubu could resign is when there's a mass demand at all levels when there's an elite consensus. Because if the poor continue to protest, he has already told you he would not listen to you. "So, the only thing that can make Tinubu resign is when there's elite consensus. Which, unfortunately, the elite consensus has not been arrived at. "In this case, when we talk about elite consensus, we're talking about across all divides; Politicians, security agencies, and non-state actors would have agreed that what has happened is not something we should be proud of. What has happened is not something we should leave as a legacy."
Recall that Tinubu's political opponent and presidential flagbearer of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, had filed a suit in a US court in Illinois to release the President's academic records. Atiku was successful in the pursuit despite Tinubu's effort to block his request. The former Vice President has filed an application to the Supreme Court asking that he could present the document he obtained from CSU as evidence in his appeal against the judgment of the election tribunal, which went in favour of Tinubu.
Additionally, Atiku has allegedly filed for the release of FBI and CIA investigation on Tinubu's alleged drug trafficking schemes in the US.
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