Forget Tinubu’s Certificates, Tell Nigerians What You’ll Do Better Than Him, Senator Ndume Tells Opposition

…Says contenders must confront President’s record on economy, insecurity with credible alternatives

By Abu Adamu
Former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, has challenged opposition parties and their presidential candidates to abandon what he described as a distracting controversy over President Bola Tinubu’s academic credentials and instead tell Nigerians how they intend to govern the country better if elected in 2027.

Ndume, a prominent member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said the next presidential election should be fought over the economy, security and competing ideas for Nigeria’s future rather than renewed questions about Tinubu’s educational history.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, the Borno senator argued that Tinubu had already crossed the constitutional threshold required to contest the presidency and should now be judged principally on his record after more than three years in office.

His intervention followed renewed scrutiny by some opposition figures of the President’s educational background, particularly questions surrounding the absence of entries for primary and secondary schools in documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Tinubu listed a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Chicago State University, obtained in 1979, among his educational qualifications and submitted copies of his degree and National Youth Service Corps certificates.

But Ndume said whatever political controversy might surround the President’s educational history, the constitutional requirement for election to the presidency was broader than possession of a particular secondary school certificate.

“The Constitution only establishes a minimum educational threshold, but it does not insist on the particularity of a secondary school certificate as the only means by which that threshold can be met,” Ndume said.

He cited the provision of the 1999 Constitution stipulating that a presidential candidate must have been educated “up to at least school certificate level or its equivalent.”

According to the senator, continuing to make Tinubu’s certificates a major campaign issue risks diverting attention from more consequential questions about the performance of his administration and what opposition candidates would do differently.

“The narrative around his certificate, in my opinion, is distracting,” he said.

“What opposition parties’ presidential candidates and their spokespersons should focus on are their alternative economic policies, if they have any. What can they do better than President Tinubu? They should come out and tell Nigerians.”

Ndume said opposition parties seeking to unseat Tinubu in 2027 should subject the administration’s economic policies and security record to rigorous scrutiny, but must accompany their criticisms with concrete proposals capable of convincing voters that they offer a better alternative.

“It is his economic policies and how his administration has been able to tackle insecurity with landmark success that they should try and interrogate,” the senator said.

His comments come as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 presidential contest, with the economy, cost of living, insecurity and the impact of the Tinubu administration’s reforms expected to feature prominently in the campaign.

Ndume argued that Tinubu’s years in office had provided his challengers with enough material on which to build a substantive campaign, making continued concentration on his academic credentials unnecessary.

“He has been in office for over three years now. So, how can the narrative around his certificates be the focus of his challengers?” he asked.

The senator urged opposition candidates to elevate the quality of political debate by presenting Nigerians with clear alternatives on economic management, security and governance rather than allowing the campaign to become dominated by disputes over the President’s past.

For Ndume, the central question ahead of 2027 should be straightforward: whether Tinubu’s challengers can demonstrate that they possess better policies and can deliver better results.

He therefore challenged the opposition to take the contest “beyond the mundane” and make the election a battle of records, policies and competing visions for Nigeria’s future.