A tertiary institution in the United States, the University of Chicago, which Nigerian President Bola Tinubu allegedly claimed to have attended, has been ranked as the 10th best university in the world, according to the 2024 Academic Ranking of World Universities report.

In 1999, when he wanted to run for governor of Lagos state, Mr Tinubu claimed that he attended the University of Chicago. This, however, turned out to be a lie. 

The university, known for its top-notch economics and finance courses, as well as programmes related to law and statistics, has consistently held the number 10 spot in the same survey since 2022.

“In today’s ranking-related news: Our very own University of Chicago was just named the 10th best in the world by the 2024 Academic Ranking of World Universities report. We are, of course, incredibly proud.

“UChicago prides itself on the strength of its intellectual traditions, including a dedication to intense critical analysis and lively debate, all of which result in creative solutions to complex problems,” a statement from the school read.

The statement added, “The University has been home to 92 Nobel Prize winners, over 260 Guggenheim fellows, over 50 MacArthur ‘genius’ fellows, and 25 Pulitzer Prize winners.”

Notably, eight out of the top 10 schools are U.S. institutions, including Harvard University, which tops the list of the best tertiary institutions in the world. The University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, both in England, are the only two non-American entries.

According to the survey, the schools were ranked based on “several academic or research performance indicators, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, Highly Cited Researchers, papers published in Nature and Science, papers indexed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic performance of an institution.”

Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, Mr Tinubu was also enmeshed in another certificate scandal when he claimed he attended and graduated from the Chicago State University (CSU) in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree.

Mr Tinubu presented his university certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to contest the 2023 presidential election amid the complexities of the election season.

His main challenger in the election, Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), later questioned the authenticity of the university certificate presented to INEC, alleging that the document revealing Mr Tinubu graduated from Chicago State University in 1979 was not original, highlighting it as grounds to nullify the presidential election victory.