By Professor Emeritus Rasheed Ojikutu

Sir: The umpire has blown the whistle and the 2027 political contests are about to commence. While democratic tenets are to be secured firmly, Nigerians expect profound input and quality output from its leaders in the ensuing campaigns.
Observers of the pre-campaign debate are bound to agree, judging by various media reports that the performance was not encouraging because members of the opposition continued to stay glued to issues that present them as a group bereft of ideas.

A Yoruba proverb says “when the living is unjust, people are bound to remember the activities of the dead during their lifetime.” In this regard, one can compare today with yesteryears and the politics of great ideas from people like Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Aminu Kano and others. When you listen to them on radio and at their campaign in “Ori-Koriko” which was then located adjacent to the Jankara Market in Lagos, you may not be happy with what they are saying but the content of their campaign contains still largely the truth.

It is indeed disgusting that someone who wants to be the next president of Nigeria is alleged by the media to have paid huge foreign currency to pursue a stale case, thereby de-marketing the country more and more.

For almost three decades, Nigeria has remained trapped in a political debate that should, by now, have been resolved by facts, judicial decisions, and common sense. Yet, every election cycle resurrects the same arguments over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s educational qualifications or the allegation over money forfeiture, as though nothing has happened in the intervening years.

There comes a point when a legitimate question ceases to be an inquiry and becomes a political obsession. One simple fact deserves emphasis. Chicago State University has consistently maintained that Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended the institution and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1979. During the legal proceedings initiated in the United States by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in 2023, the university produced Tinubu’s academic records pursuant to a U.S. court order. The litigation was primarily about compelling the production of records for use in Nigerian election proceedings; the U.S. court did not determine whether Tinubu committed forgery or whether he was qualified to hold office.

Common sense dictates another point. It is virtually inconceivable that an accredited American university would award a bachelor’s degree to someone who had not satisfied its admission requirements. While universities may admit mature students or transfer students under different rules, the burden of evaluating entry qualifications rests with the university. Once a university certifies that a person attended and graduated, anyone alleging that the qualification is fraudulent is naive and unreasonable.

Some critics continue to shift the debate from the degree itself to earlier educational records. That is their right. However, the legal burden remains unchanged: an allegation of forgery requires proof. Suspicion, speculation, political rhetoric, or repeated assertions do not amount to proof.

It is also important to remember the historical context. Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s was not the Nigeria of today. Many Nigerians received substantial education through private tutoring, correspondence studies, missionary instruction, or other non-traditional pathways before eventually sitting qualifying examinations. Formal educational trajectories were far less uniform than they are today. Therefore, the absence of a conventional progression through primary and secondary schools, by itself, does not establish that a later university degree is invalid.

That proposition would require evidence, not assumption.

The certificate controversy itself is hardly new. Questions surrounding President Tinubu’s education came to the front burner in 1999 when he was the governor of Lagos State. They resurfaced during subsequent political contests and reached their highest legal profile following the 2023 presidential election. Atiku Abubakar challenged Tinubu’s qualification before the Presidential Election Petition Court, appealed to the Supreme Court, and also sought discovery of academic records through proceedings in the United States. Ultimately, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed Tinubu’s election. The Court held, among other things, that the fresh evidence sought did not justify disturbing the election outcome.

This does not mean every public question disappeared, nor does it prevent citizens from debating public affairs. It does mean, however, that after years of litigation, the controversy has been extensively tested through judicial processes rather than merely through political speeches.

Unfortunately, parts of the opposition appear unwilling to move beyond issues that have already consumed enormous public attention. Instead of presenting fresh policy alternatives on inflation, insecurity, unemployment, education, power supply, industrialisation, and economic growth, political energy is repeatedly invested in controversies that have already been examined in multiple courts.

A vibrant democracy requires an opposition that challenges government on ideas, programmes, and measurable performance. Democracy benefits when parties compete over solutions rather than endlessly re-litigating questions that have already been the subject of judicial scrutiny. An opposition that is perceived as recycling old controversies risks creating the impression that it has run short of new ideas.

This observation naturally raises another question. Nigerian politics has witnessed numerous controversies involving many leading political figures over the years. Allegations connected with the Halliburton investigations, among other public controversies, have also attracted public debate involving senior politicians. Where such matters have been investigated or litigated, they too should be judged on evidence and lawful decisions rather than political slogans. Public discourse should apply the same standard to every political actor: allegations deserve scrutiny, but conclusions should rest on verified facts and due process.

Ultimately, Nigeria deserves a politics anchored in evidence rather than perpetual controversy. Citizens should remain free to ask difficult questions of every leader, but they should also accept documented facts, respect judicial outcomes, and insist that political competition centres on governance rather than endless repetition of old disputes. A nation cannot build its future while permanently arguing about yesterday.

Rasheed Ojikutu is a retired Professor of Statistics, University of Lagos.