Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Friday, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to stop embarrassing Nigerians with his desperate bid to frustrate the release of his academic records from the Chicago State University (CSU).
Frank in a statement in Abuja wondered what Tinubu has got to hide that prompted him to hurriedly appeal the judgement of a US Magistrate Court that ordered CSU to release his academic records.
According to a report by Peoples Gazette, Tinubu had pleaded before a United States judge to save him from suffering “severe and irreparable damage” by placing an emergency hold on a recent Court order to release his university records.
The President, through his lawyer, claimed that the damage he would suffer would be impossible to mitigate if the order directing the release of his academic records to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is not delayed for possible vacation.
According to the report, “Severe and irreparable harm will be done to Bola Tinubu if the records are released,” Tinubu’s lawyer had argued at an emergency appeal before Judge Nancy Maldonado of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
“If the records are released, harm will be done and cannot be taken back to the bottle,” Tinubu’s lawyer added.
“If you know you have clean academic records why are you fighting to stop their
being released?
“What ‘severe and irreparable harm’ will you suffer if the records are released?” Frank queried.
He insisted that due to Tinubu’s desperate acts in seeking to conceal his academic records and other legal issues surrounding his persona, most world leaders are now avoiding him and this has hampered his administration’s much-publicized investments drive abroad.
“For instance, his much trumpeted proposed meeting with American President Joe Biden during the United Nations General Assembly in New York was silently cancelled with no explanations from either Tinubu or Biden.
“However, we have it on good authority that Biden was warned by the US intelligence community to avoid such a meeting.
“Besides, Tinubu claimed to have gotten United Arab Emirates (Dubai) authorities to lift visa restrictions on Nigerians but this has since been proven to be a lie.”
He called on Nigerians to take responsibility for ensuring that the President has authentic academic records and not to leave the efforts to an individual, as glossing over this issue can potentially damage Nigeria’s political and diplomatic image.
Frank said: “This fight should not be for Atiku Abubakar alone. Nigerians must rise up and demand to know the academic records of their President.
“Tinubu’s desperate attempt to buy time with his recent appeal is a huge embarrassment to Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora. Why does the court-ordered release of Tinubu’s academic records appear like a matter of life and death to the President?
“Tinubu, please stop embarrassing Nigerians through this do-or-die attempt to stop your academic records from being released. Nigerians are eager to know who their President really is.
“The more you fight to conceal your academic records, the more you damage the country’s image and its ability to attract investors who want to do business with genuine and trustworthy partners and not those believed to have skeletons in their cupboards.
“Are Nigerians not entitled to know the authentic academic qualifications of their President?”
He called on the United States Government and its institutions to transparently adjudicate on this matter in the interest of Nigeria and not that of one man.
We demand that the Chicago court urgently hear this appeal and make its findings known without compromising the integrity of the American court system.
