Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has called for transparency and urged President Bola Tinubu to stop stalling the release of his Chicago State University (CSU) academic records.

Frank, in a statement in Abuja, wondered what Tinubu has to hide that prompted him to hurriedly appeal the judgment of a US Magistrate Court that ordered CSU to release his academic records.

According to reports, 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 for his university records to be released.

Tinubu, 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 Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar is not delayed for a possible vacation.

Frank queried, “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?”

He insisted that due to Tinubu’s 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 investment drive abroad.

Frank called on Nigerians to own the fight to ensure that the President has authentic academic records and not to leave the efforts to an individual due to the potential political and diplomatic damage it can do to Nigeria if glossed over.

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 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 image of the country 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?”

Frank also 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. He said: “We demand the Chicago court to urgently hear this appeal and make its findings known without compromising the integrity of the American court system.”
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