Legal expert Dr. Monday Ubani, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has stated that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not legally obligated to provide primary and secondary school certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission. He clarified that the absence of these documents does not undermine the validity of his nomination. This statement comes as Dino Melaye, a former Senator, raised questions regarding the President’s educational filings for the 2027 election.
Ubani emphasized that Section 131 of the 1999 Constitution only mandates that presidential aspirants prove they have reached a school certificate level or its equivalent. He noted that there is no statutory requirement to physically submit original certificates, adding that possessing a university degree inherently assumes the completion of prior educational stages. Any challenge to this presumption would require concrete evidence to the contrary.
While acknowledging that submitting full academic records is a matter of transparency and moral duty, Ubani insisted it is not a constitutional mandate. He further noted that the Electoral Act does not grant the Independent National Electoral Commission the authority to authenticate credentials before publication. Instead, the commission is tasked only with releasing candidate information, leaving disputes over accuracy to the judicial process. Regarding concerns over name variations in Peter Obi’s documents, the lawyer suggested that formal legal documentation is necessary to clarify such discrepancies.
