President Bola Tinubu gained admission into the Chicago State University to study business administration using high school science subjects  — physics, chemistry and biology, according to 1970 O Level results seen by Peoples Gazette. 

Mr Tinubu’s election victory was on Wednesday upheld by the Nigerian presidential elections petitions tribunal, but before then, he had been fighting tooth and nail for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to block Atiku Abubakar, his main opponent at the February 25 polls, from accessing his school records.

The Nigerian leader, whose records have been shrouded in secrecy to the discomfort of his rivals and concerned Nigerian citizens, has more inconsistencies to clarify after a previously unreported general certificate of education record showed that he only took science subjects —physics, chemistry and biology— and used the results to qualify for a business administration bachelor’s degree course at the American institution.

“This is to certify that the candidate (Bola A. Tinubu) named below sat for a Joint Examination for the Higher School Certificate and General Certificate of Education and qualified for the award of a General Certificate of Education (GCE),” according to the previously unreported document allegedly issued by Cambridge University’s Local Examinations Syndicate in 1970.

“The candidate passed at the level shown (Principal or Subsidiary) in the subject(s) named and attained the standard of the G.C.E. Advanced or Ordinary Level pass as indicated,” the document stated.

The subjects listed were physics, chemistry and biology and the documents showed that Mr Tinubu took the exams in November-December 1970 under serial number S028705.

It was not immediately clear how Mr Tinubu used core science subjects to obtain admission for an initial degree in business administration. But he said he attended Southwest College in Chicago, and it is possible he combined results from that school with his science-related results from Cambridge high school examination. Yet, the Southwest College result was issued to a female Bola Tinubu, records said.

It was also unclear whether the examinations Mr Tinubu took were organised by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which was the main body in charge of organising university-qualifying assessments at the time.

The Gazette has reached Cambridge University’s assessment office to authenticate the GCE results. 

In his submission to Nigeria’s election regulator, INEC, Mr Tinubu declined to state whether or not he obtained a high school education. He only mentioned that he attended Chicago State University. Both INEC and a spokesman for the president did not immediately return our requests seeking comments. 

Meanwhile, Mr Abubakar has asked for expedited issuance of an order directing the discovery of Mr Tinubu’s CSU records to clear inconsistencies regarding the president’s age and gender, which he needs to tender to appeal the tribunal’s ruling at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.