Former South-East spokesman to President Bola Tinubu, Denge Josef Onoh, has defended the President’s nomination documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying the omission of primary and secondary school certificates on the Form EC9 complies with the Constitution and established court decisions.

Onoh, who is chairman of the Forum of Former Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, described the controversy over the form as the result of “sheer political mischief and legal illiteracy.”

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, he said President Tinubu acted in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution by submitting his Bachelor of Science degree from Chicago State University and National Youth Service Corps certificate.

According to him, Section 131(d) of the Constitution requires a presidential candidate to be educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent, adding that Tinubu’s university degree exceeds that constitutional requirement.

“The basic baseline threshold required to contest for the office of the President under Section 131(d) of the 1999 Constitution is to be educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent. President Tinubu possesses a valid Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Chicago State University,” Onoh said.

He added, “Legally, when a candidate presents a credential that surpasses the constitutional threshold, that single higher qualification satisfies the law. You cannot demand a lower foundation when the architectural masterpiece is already standing.”

Onoh also argued that Supreme Court decisions do not require aspirants to submit a complete chain of academic qualifications from primary school to tertiary level.

“The Supreme Court of Nigeria has repeatedly ruled that an aspirant does not need to submit or list a continuous chain of all academic certificates from primary school upwards to INEC. Hence President Tinubu presenting a genuine higher degree implicitly serves as sufficient evidence of having met and bypassed lesser educational steps,” he said.

He added that the courts had maintained that an aspirant was not legally required to account for every lower school attended if a higher qualification established eligibility.

“The public must separate emotional politics from constitutional law,” he said.

Onoh further maintained that a candidate could lawfully leave the primary and secondary education sections of the nomination form blank if a valid tertiary qualification had been submitted.

“What the law frowns against is the presentation of false information or forged documents. By opting to leave those spaces blank and attaching his higher credentials, the President has maintained utmost integrity, transparency, and compliance with the Electoral Act,” he said.

He urged opposition parties and critics to acquaint themselves with Nigeria’s electoral laws instead of engaging in what he described as “selective amnesia and synthetic outrage.”

“This orchestrated propaganda is dead on arrival,” Onoh said.

He added that Tinubu’s academic records had been scrutinised and confirmed, saying, “President Tinubu’s academic record has been thoroughly vetted and affirmed globally, including confirmation by the BBC Fact Checkers and Chicago State University under deposition. We advise the opposition to focus on constructive engagements rather than trying to manufacture a crisis where none exists.”

Onoh said the President remained focused on governance and insisted that his nomination documents were “unassailable.”