A group called the Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CRPA) revealed why US President Joe Biden failed to honour a meeting with his Nigerian counterpart, President Bola Tinubu, at the end of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York last week.
In a statement released by the Centre on Sunday in Abuja, signed by its coordinator, Ifeanyi Okechukwu, it reliably gathered that the State Department told the US President that the case against the authenticity of Tinubu’s university degree from Chicago State University was still ongoing in the US court in Chicago. According to the information available to us, the State Department reportedly told Biden that “it is highly likely that the litigation may run against the president’s interest. ”
Okechukwu said: “Information available to us indicates that the failure of Biden to meet with Tinubu was consequent upon the State Department advisory warning the US President to avoid Tinubu like a plague until the litigation on his election is concluded by the judiciary in Nigeria.
“We were also availed of the information that there are inconsistencies between the records of Bola Tinubu with the university and the record that the Nigerian president submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to information we obtained late Saturday night, ‘Tinubu’s records at Chicago State University are inconsistent with what he submitted to INEC in Nigeria.’
President Tinubu’s main rival in the February 25 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, is challenging INEC’s decision to declare Tinubu the winner. Abubakar has cited Tinubu’s non-qualification based on document forgery as grounds for his appeal.
According to the information, “As a result of the inconsistent records in his (Tinubu’s) Chicago State University file, President Biden was advised to cancel his sideline meeting with Tinubu.
“Similarly, a phone call that was arranged for Tinubu to speak with Biden was also cancelled. So, the States Department’s advice is to avoid Tinubu until his legal matters are resolved in Nigeria.”
The Centre further claimed that “the Nigerian president promptly flew to France from New York to seek the intervention of the French President Emmanuel Macron to help secure the support of the West in the emerging legitimacy crisis rocking his administration.
“So, both the meeting of Tinubu and the phone call with Biden were cancelled at the last minute.
“It is certain that President Tinubu has serious legitimacy problems.
“Indeed, if he were not a President with diplomatic immunity, parading any fake or unapproved university document is against the law in the United States.
“Under American laws, he would be denied entry or deported. Obviously, the State Department didn’t want any controversy to emerge during the General Assembly and that is why they tactically opposed Biden meeting with Tinubu as that could be interpreted as President Biden aiding Tinubu in seeking protection from the law.”
