By Sunday Ameh
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and constitutional lawyer, Dr. Monday Ubani, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was under no constitutional obligation to submit his primary and secondary school certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that while the omission may raise questions of transparency, it does not amount to a legal breach.
Ubani stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, following renewed controversy over Tinubu’s educational credentials after former Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye alleged that the President failed to include his primary and secondary school certificates among the nomination documents submitted to INEC for the 2027 presidential election.
He explained that the issue should be considered strictly within the framework of constitutional law rather than public opinion.
“It is about the law, not about maybe sentiment or bias,” Ubani said.
According to the senior lawyer, Section 131 of the 1999 Constitution only requires a presidential candidate to show evidence of having been educated up to school certificate level or its equivalent and does not expressly mandate the submission of primary or secondary school certificates.
“The Constitution says that whosoever will run for the office of the president must show that he has attained education up to school certificate level,” he stated.
Ubani maintained that the courts have already interpreted the constitutional provision, stressing that there is no legal requirement for candidates to physically produce school certificates.
“There is no legal compulsion that he must disclose his certificate or show it. It is only a moral issue and has nothing to do with legal compulsion,” he said.
While acknowledging that the omission of lower educational qualifications could generate concerns about transparency and accountability, he insisted that it does not amount to a constitutional violation.
He further argued that where a candidate presents a recognised university degree, the law presumes the individual must have completed the lower levels of education unless evidence is presented to prove otherwise.
“If somebody has a degree, the presumption is that he must have passed through primary school, secondary school and university. It is for anyone challenging that to rebut the presumption,” Ubani explained.
He, however, advised that candidates seeking public office should strive to be transparent by presenting all relevant educational credentials.
“I agree that ordinarily, whoever is submitting his credentials should show evidence of his primary and secondary school certificates. These are issues of transparency,” he added.
Speaking on INEC’s role, Ubani said the electoral body is only required by law to publish candidates’ documents for public scrutiny and has no responsibility to verify or authenticate them.
“There is no provision in the Electoral Act that gives INEC the supervisory role of authenticating or disqualifying a candidate. Anyone who believes the information submitted is false has the right to challenge it in court,” he said.
Ubani also addressed concerns over alleged discrepancies in the academic records of 2027 presidential candidate Peter Obi, stating that differences in names across official documents are not automatically evidence of wrongdoing but should be properly explained and supported by legal documentation.
On previous litigation involving allegations of certificate forgery against President Tinubu after the 2023 presidential election, the SAN said the Supreme Court did not determine the matter on its merits because of procedural issues.
He added that disputes relating to educational qualifications are pre-election matters and must be filed within the period prescribed by law after INEC publishes candidates’ particulars.
“If you are challenging the certificate issue, this is the right time to do it within 14 days after publication. If you fail to do so under the Electoral Act, I don’t think you can raise it later as a post-election qualification issue,” Ubani said.
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