Atiku’s aide slams BBC’s fact-check report on Tinubu’s certificate controversy

Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communications to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has criticized the BBC over its fact-check report stating that there was no evidence to show that President Bola Tinubu’s Chicago State University (CSU) certificate was forged.

Shaibu described the BBC’s report as a “hatchet job” and noted that the outrage it generated among Nigerians indicated that the BBC had made an error. He claimed that the BBC was aligning with the Tinubu administration’s propaganda efforts.

In the statement, Shaibu questioned the BBC’s objectivity and accused it of bias towards the current Nigerian government. He noted the BBC’s exclusive interview with Tinubu and called the report “jaundiced.”

He also pointed out that the BBC’s report buried critical questions and highlighted discrepancies in Tinubu’s educational history, such as his claim to have attended Government College, Lagos in 1970 when the school was established in 1974.

“Sometime last week, when the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) issued a final warning to Arise News TV, we pointed out that the Tinubu administration was on the verge of launching a full blown propaganda and also intimidating ‘uncooperative’ media houses into discrediting and downplaying the CSU scandal. Sadly, we never imagined that it would be the BBC that would become the willing tool.

“It is unconscionable, appalling and preposterous that in this current information age, a foreign medium of repute could try to bamboozle Nigerians with a jaundiced report when the details are clear for everyone to see. Thank God young Nigerians have begun filing complaints against the hack writers who decided to soil their names for a bowl of porridge.

“We are not ignorant of the machinations of the BBC and its bias towards the current government. It is unfortunate that the BBC is not upholding the same standards as they would uphold in the UK where a Prime Minister was forced out of office for hosting a party during COVID-19. In 2009, columnist Mehdi Hasan wrote in the New Statesman that the BBC was biased ‘towards power and privilege, tradition and orthodoxy.’

“It is no wonder that in the last one year, the only news medium that was given exclusive access to interview Tinubu was the BBC. It is sickening that the BBC has decided to surrender its platform to a man who was accused of illegal drug trafficking in the United States.

“In the so-called fact-check report, the BBC decided to bury in the last paragraphs the fact that Tinubu claimed to have attended Government College, Lagos in 1970 when the school was established in 1974. Why didn’t these so-called fact-checkers reflect it on their headline?

“What is the essence of the report when it failed to uncover the most critical questions? If this report was aimed at fact-checking, it should have mentioned the year the certificate was obtained by Tinubu from the CSU and if the one he submitted to INEC is the same one he received from CSU.

“Tinubu said at Chatham House that he had received a replacement from CSU when the school said in unambiguous terms that he had not done so. What was the date he applied for his INEC replacement certificate from CSU, and when was it it issued to him?

“The investigation was clearly carried out with a predetermined goal, which was to clear Tinubu. But let us ask the BBC if they would employ anyone who has had a case of drug trafficking in the US before and if he had three dates of birth in his official records as well as two different genders as well as attending a secondary school before it was established.”

Shaibu called on fact-checkers like the BBC to be more circumspect and emphasized the importance of investigative journalism. He criticized Africa Check for its fact-check regarding Tinubu’s educational history and questioned who fact-checks the fact-checkers.

Furthermore, Shaibu criticized President Tinubu for holding only one cabinet meeting since taking office and accused him of being unprepared for governance, citing delays in appointing and inaugurating ministers and a lack of meetings with the cabinet. He suggested that Tinubu’s administration had brought hardships to Nigerians and questioned the effectiveness of his leadership.