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Atiku questions Tinubu’s claim of Belarusian arms-linked businessman as classmate
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Says 13-year-old could not have graduated from CSU in 1979 alongside Tinubu
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Demands full disclosure of academic history, challenges rising contradictions
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has demanded that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu come clean about his identity following the President’s recent controversial claim that a Belarusian businessman, Mr. Alex Zingman, was his classmate at Chicago State University (CSU).
In a strongly worded statement titled “Tinubu’s Curious Classmate: Nigerians Deserve Answers, Not More Confusion,” Atiku warned that Tinubu’s remarks have only deepened public doubts and reopened questions about the authenticity of his academic records.
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“Rather than evoke confidence, the claim has triggered more questions than answers,” Atiku said, citing Zingman’s well-documented birth year of 1966. “By 1979, when President Tinubu claims to have graduated, Mr. Zingman would have been only 13 years old.”
He described the situation as both bizarre and suspicious, asking rhetorically: “Are we now to believe that the Guinness Book of Records missed the story of a 13-year-old Belarusian prodigy graduating from an American university alongside Bola Ahmed Tinubu?”
Atiku further criticised Tinubu for publicly linking himself with an individual reportedly entangled in arms trafficking and financial scandals in countries like Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Even more troubling is the President’s casual association with a man whose international reputation is mired in scandal,” he said.
The PDP’s 2023 presidential flagbearer laid out a series of pointed questions, urging President Tinubu to publicly clarify the inconsistencies surrounding his academic history, including:
- Why no verifiable classmates have come forward from Tinubu’s supposed time at Government College Lagos, Government College Ibadan, or CSU
- How a certificate allegedly issued in 1970 came from a school established in 1972
- Why no evidence exists of Tinubu’s enrolment at Richard Daley College via legitimate channels
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“The presidency is not a sanctuary for secrets — it is a platform for integrity,” Atiku stated. “Mr. President, Nigerians deserve to know who you really are.”
“What the nation awaits is not tales of ‘Alexes from distant lands’, but proof, clarity, and the simple dignity of facts,” Atiku added.
