Tinubu ignores certificate saga, says he’s still searching for his running mate

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says he is still searching for his running mate.

Tinubu said this on Sunday, June 26, 2022, amid the controversy over his claim that he lost his academic certificates.

In the INEC Form CF001 submitted on Friday, June 17, 2022, the presidential candidate did not provide details of his primary and secondary schools as the spaces were left blank.

Also, Tinubu didn’t submit copies of the certificate which he stated in an affidavit, had been stolen by unknown persons.

This claim sparked speculations on social media as many Nigerian claimed the APC flag-bearer did not submit the credentials to INEC to avoid revealing his real name and age.

It would be recalled that a civil society group, Center for Reform and Pubic Advocacy, had called on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali to arrest and prosecute Tinubu over alleged perjury.

But while Tinubu’s claim about his certificates is still a conversation ahead of the 2023 presidential election, the presidential candidate ignored the controversy when he was speaking at an event to mark the 60 birthday of Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Sunday.

Tinubu praised the working relationship between the celebrant and his deputy, Hon Ahmed Wase, saying he needed to learn from them.

He said, “Femi with your determination, grit, you are a contributor to our democratic growth, thank you. You have character. You are a great mentor and you are doing a good job charting a path to success. You’ve done a good job and I say thank you, thank you.

“What you did during my primary is a story for another day. I’ve spent more time, too many times and people might be bored, they might be envious too, they might be jealous. I won landslide, I thank you.

“I could see his deputy (Wase) sitting down there too, you are a very good symbol of unity, dependability, and honesty, thank you. Thank you for both of you. You’ve not rocked the boat. I will need to learn from both of you, how you made the pair work because I’m still searching for my running mate.”

Meanwhile, in order to beat INEC deadline, Tinubu had picked Ibrahim Masari, a Katsina Politician as a placeholder.