Former Senate Leader and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Ali Ndume, has urged opposition parties to stop focusing on President Bola Tinubu’s academic qualifications ahead of the January 16 presidential election.
Ndume, in a statement issued on Monday, said the opposition should instead concentrate on Tinubu’s policies, achievements and performance as President rather than continue to question his eligibility to contest the presidency.
His comments followed renewed debate over the academic qualifications of presidential candidates after the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, published the details of the qualifications of 19 presidential candidates and their running mates.
The publication has again drawn attention to Tinubu’s educational records, with some opposition parties and political actors raising questions over the documents submitted by the President.
However, Ndume dismissed the concerns, arguing that Tinubu had met the constitutional requirement for contesting the presidential election.
The senator said the 1999 Constitution did not make possession of a particular secondary school certificate the only way a presidential candidate could satisfy the educational requirement.
He cited Section 131(d) of the Constitution, which states that a person is qualified to contest for President if “he has been educated up to at least school certificate level or its equivalent.”
According to Ndume, the provision sets a minimum educational standard but does not require every presidential candidate to present a specific type of 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,” he said.
The former Senate Leader maintained that the debate over Tinubu’s academic qualifications had become a distraction from the issues that should matter to voters as the country approaches another presidential election.
“The narrative around his certificate, in my opinion, is distracting,” he added.
Ndume argued that opposition parties had an opportunity to challenge the policies and record of the Tinubu administration instead of returning to questions surrounding his eligibility.
He said political parties seeking to defeat the APC and its candidate should explain to Nigerians how they would address the country’s economic and security challenges and improve the living conditions of citizens.
The renewed debate over Tinubu’s qualifications is not new. His academic records were a major issue during the 2023 presidential election, when opposition parties and individuals raised questions about his educational history and the documents associated with his qualifications.
The controversy also featured in several legal challenges that followed the 2023 election. Different courts considered claims relating to Tinubu’s eligibility and academic records as part of the wider legal disputes over the presidential election.
The Supreme Court eventually upheld Tinubu’s victory in the election after the Presidential Election Petition Court and other judicial processes had considered various challenges brought by opposition candidates.
Ndume therefore argued that Tinubu’s eligibility had already been subjected to legal scrutiny and that political parties should move beyond the matter.
“Opposition parties should focus on Tinubu’s policies and performance as a sitting President rather than his eligibility for the office, which has been settled by litigation arising from the 2023 presidential election,” he said.
The controversy resurfaced after INEC released the particulars of candidates participating in the forthcoming presidential election. The publication was part of the commission’s process of providing voters with information about candidates contesting the election.
The release of the information is expected to help voters understand the backgrounds and qualifications of those seeking elective offices.
However, political parties have used the information to raise questions about the credentials of some candidates, reflecting the intense political contest ahead of the election.
For the APC, the debate comes as the party prepares to defend its control of the Federal Government. Tinubu, who became President in May 2023, is seeking another term in office.
His administration has introduced major economic reforms, including the removal of the petrol subsidy and changes to the foreign exchange system. The government has defended the measures as necessary steps to stabilise the economy, while opposition parties have criticised their impact on Nigerians, particularly the rising cost of living.
Food prices, unemployment, insecurity, electricity supply and the value of the naira are expected to remain major issues during the campaign.
Ndume’s position suggests that the APC would prefer the coming election to be fought largely on the performance of the administration and its policies rather than on controversies surrounding the President’s academic records.
For the opposition, however, questions about candidates’ qualifications remain part of the broader debate over transparency, eligibility and the credibility of the electoral process.
With the election approaching, the issue is likely to remain part of political discussions as parties intensify their campaigns and seek to convince voters.
Ndume, however, insisted that the focus should now shift to the issues that directly affect Nigerians.
He said the opposition should tell voters what it would do differently if given the opportunity to govern, rather than rely on what he described as a distracting debate over Tinubu’s certificates.