NEWS
Certificate Saga: Atiku, Obi Decry BBC Clearing Tinubu
The public stand-off on the authenticity of the certificates of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has seen the camps of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer, Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, decry the BBC’s report that there is no evidence to back the forgery allegation the president.
This follows the BBC’s Global Disinformation Team declaring in a fact-checking report published on Wednesday that there was no evidence that President Tinubu forged the Chicago State University (CSU) certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as part of documentation for the contest the February presidential election.
According to the BBC’s report, the allegation that President Tinubu submitted a forged CSU certificate to the INEC was false.
The Global Disinformation Team maintained that it fact-checked the most widely circulated claims to arrive at its conclusion.
Recall that the allegation of certificate forgery levelled against President Tinubu has been shaking the polity with his main rivals in the last election – Atiku and Obi taking on the former Lagos State governor on the matter.
Reports that the ex-Lagos State governor’s certificate was faked had gone viral on social media following the US court ordered release of his CSU academic records.
The release of the president’s academic documents is the culmination of a judicial case filed in August by former Vice President Atiku, who is seeking to overturn President Tinubu’s electoral victory at the Supreme Court.
The former VP, had accused President Tinubu of falsifying the CSU diploma of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration awarded in 1979 that he submitted to the INEC.
In a move to strengthen his election petition appeal filed at the apex court, the PDP standard bearer asked an Illinois, Chicago court to compel the CSU to release the President’s academic records, including a copy of any diploma issued by CSU in 1979, a copy of the diploma the CSU gave to President Tinubu in 1979, copies of diplomas with the same font, seal, signatures, and wording awarded to other students that are similar to what CSU awarded to him in 1979.
He also demanded documents from the CSU that were certified by Jamar Orr, who was then a staff member of the CSU.
Despite Atiku’s application being vehemently opposed by President Tinubu’s lawyers on the grounds of privacy concerns, the US court decided it should proceed and the school subsequently released the academic records.
In line with the court ruling, Atiku’s lawyer, Angela Liu, questioned the CSU registrar, Caleb Westberg, in a deposition.
The report read, “Some social media users in Nigeria allege that the deposition and the diplomas released by CSU confirm that the diploma submitted to INEC by Mr Tinubu was forged.
“This claim was also repeated by one of Mr Abubakar’s lawyers, Kalu Kalu, at a press conference last week.
“We found there was no evidence to support this claim. Many social media users in Nigeria have been sharing false or misleading posts about the deposition of Caleb Westberg, the current CSU Registrar.”
It continued that the CSU issued ‘three different diplomas’ for President Tinubu, none of which could be seen as fake.
“The CSU released several diplomas issued between 1979 and 2003. We analysed all of them.
“There are three different diplomas for Mr Tinubu that we refer to throughout our analysis:
“The original one from 1979, which he has said in the past was lost when he went into exile in the 1990s. The second one that he submitted to INEC, supposedly a replacement diploma from CSU (it is similar to diplomas issued by CSU in the 1990s).
“Additionally, CSU holds another replacement diploma for Mr Tinubu that they say is probably from the early 2000s that he never collected. The allegations on social media are based on a comparison between the document Mr Tinubu submitted to INEC and the 1979 diplomas released by CSU.’’
During Westberg’s deposition, the BBC noted that Atiku’s lawyer focused on the copy of the diploma President Tinubu submitted to the electoral commission and suggested that it was unlike any of the diplomas released by the CSU.
“However, while Mr Westberg agreed with Ms Liu that the diploma in question does not look like the samples from 1979, he stated that the certificate actually looks like three of the diplomas CSU released to Mr Abubakar. Our analysis confirms this.
“It turns out that the discrepancy in the appearance of the diploma is down to it having been re-issued in the 1990s. Mr Westberg said the template of CSU’s diploma has changed several times over the years. He said any request for a new diploma would resemble the current template at that time, no matter when the student graduated.
“As such, if Mr Tinubu had reordered his diploma in the late 1990s, what he would have been given would look like what was obtainable then.’’
Referring to a claim made by a fact-checking organisation in Nigeria that the diploma President Tinubu submitted was not from CSU as its diplomas do not include the phrase “with honours” under the degree name, the BBC said it found that while this was not reflected in the other diplomas released by CSU, “it does appear in Mr Tinubu’s diploma issued in the early 2000s, which was authenticated by Mr Westberg during his deposition.
“It has the words “with honours” – a match with the diploma with the same detail submitted by the president to INEC.”
However, Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, in a statement, described the report as a hatchet job.
He claimed that the report “is part of President Tinubu administration’s propaganda programme.”
Shaibu said, “Sometime last week when the National Broadcasting Commission issued a final warning to Arise News TV, we pointed out that the Tinubu administration was on the verge of launching a full-blown propaganda and also intimidating ‘uncooperative’ media houses into discrediting and downplaying the CSU scandal.
“Sadly, we never imagined that it would be the BBC that would become the willing tool.”
Shaibu lampooned the BBC for allegedly attempting to “bamboozle Nigerians with a jaundiced report when the details are clear for everyone to see.”
Atiku’s aide alleged that the BBC investigation was carried out with a predetermined goal, which is to absolve President Tinubu of the certificate forgery allegations.
Shaibu called on the BBC and other fact-checkers to be more circumspect, adding that their job was too sensitive to entertain errors.
The media aide, who advised media organisations to invest more in investigative journalism, noted that “If the BBC had invested in proper investigative journalism, it would have been the one uncovering some of Tinubu’s scandals instead of relying on Atiku for information on Tinubu’s certificates.”
On their part, the leadership of the Labour Party said they were not moved by the report of the British media outfit, which to them was mere damage control to change the certificate saga narrative.
National Legal Adviser, Labour Party, Kehinde Edun, maintained that regardless of what anyone may say, the president must take responsibility “for the mess he is putting the country through.”
He noted, “They (BBC) are entitled to their opinion. As far as we are concerned, this issue has become so messy and too dirty. In fact, in this circumstance, we even sympathise with Tinubu because he put himself in too many problems by not coming out clean about so many things.
“If you look at what Peter Obi said today, he was actually showing some form of empathy by saying that this man (Tinubu) should just clean up his mess for the sake of the country.’’
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) has secured an order of the Federal High Court Lagos, restraining the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) from enforcing its directive suspending the loading and truck-out of petroleum products at the refinery.
Justice Akintayo Aluko issued the interim injunction on Monday in a fresh legal battle between the refinery and the petroleum regulator over NMDPRA’s regulatory powers within the free zone where the refinery operates.
The court also restrained NMDPRA, its officers, agents, and representatives from entering, sealing, shutting down, restricting access to, obstructing, suspending, disrupting, inspecting, supervising, sanctioning or otherwise interfering with Dangote Refinery’s operations at the Lekki Free Zone pending the determination of the refinery’s motion on notice.
The order followed an ex-parte application filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE in suit No. FHC/L/CS/1174/2026.
READ ALSO: Group Credits PINL with Safeguarding Environment, Farms
The refinery is challenging NMDPRA’s August 24, 2026 directive suspending the loading and truck-out of petroleum products from its facilities.
Dangote’s application was argued by a legal team led by Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Olawale Akoni and Abimbola Akeredolu.
Moving the application, Akeredolu urged the court to grant the reliefs sought, relying on a 42-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Wale Aroge, a written address, and documentary exhibits marked A1 to A6.
In his ruling, Aluko held that the materials placed before the court raised serious issues requiring determination, particularly whether NMDPRA possessed regulatory or oversight powers over operations within free zones.
The judge stated that Dangote’s case was that NMDPRA lacked regulatory powers capable of affecting operations within free zones, including the Dangote Industrial Free Zone.
Aluko also referred to a March 2, 2026 letter written by the Attorney-General of the Federation, which, according to the judge, “clearly stated” that NMDPRA was not entitled to exercise regulatory powers or oversight functions over operations within free zones.
The judge said he had also considered NMDPRA’s August 24 letter through which the regulator purported to exercise such powers.
“The important question, therefore, is whether the defendant can or should be allowed to exercise such regulatory authority pending the determination of the substantive issues before the court,” Aluko held.
He said the depositions contained in paragraphs 17 to 32 of Dangote’s affidavit disclosed “serious issues for determination” and demonstrated an urgent need for judicial intervention.
According to the judge, the purpose of the application is to preserve the subject matter of the dispute pending the determination of the motion on notice.
“What the plaintiff has asked this court to do is to preserve the res pending the determination of the motion on notice,” he said.
Aluko further held that the court had an inherent power and duty to preserve the subject matter of litigation and prevent a situation in which it could be destroyed or altered before the substantive application was determined.
The judge said Dangote had satisfied the legal conditions required for the grant of an interim injunction.
He held, “The law is settled on the conditions which an applicant must satisfy to be entitled to an order of interim injunction. Those conditions have been considered and stated in this ruling, and I find that they have been satisfied in the present case.”
The court also took note of Dangote’s undertaking to indemnify NMDPRA in damages should it subsequently be established that the interim order ought not to have been granted.
“Accordingly, I find merit in the application, and the same is hereby granted in terms of the reliefs sought,” Aluko ruled.
The judge directed Dangote to file a formal undertaking as to damages and ordered that the interim order and notice of the court be served on NMDPRA.
The order effectively bars NMDPRA from implementing the August 24 directive or taking the specified enforcement measures against the refinery, pending the hearing of the motion on notice.
Aluko adjourned the suit till September 9, 2026 for hearing of the motion on notice.
The latest case is separate from another suit filed by Dangote Refinery challenging the issuance and renewal of fuel import licences to NNPC Limited and several petroleum marketers.
The earlier suit, marked FHC/L/CS/857/2026, came up before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on Monday but was adjourned until October 7 following the judge’s absence due to indisposition.
Dangote is challenging the issuance and renewal of the licences, contending that they were issued in breach of an earlier order made by the court on April 29 directing the parties to maintain the status quo as it existed on April 2, 2026.
The refinery is seeking, among other reliefs, an order setting aside the licences and restraining the Attorney-General of the Federation and relevant regulatory agencies from issuing or renewing import licences for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), and Jet A1 pending the determination of the suit.
Dangote contended that continued issuance of the licences undermined domestic refining and violated Section 317(9) of the Petroleum Industry Act, which it interpreted as permitting petroleum imports only where there was a proven shortfall in domestic supply.
The refinery, which has an installed capacity of approximately 650,000 barrels per day, maintains that it has sufficient capacity to meet Nigeria’s domestic refined petroleum product requirements.
It has relied on regulatory data which, according to the company, show that domestic production of petrol and diesel exceeds national consumption.
Dangote had argued that the refinery was established to meet Nigeria’s refined petroleum requirements, generate export surpluses, and support the development of a major market for Nigerian crude oil.
The NNPC Limited, however, urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the Petroleum Industry Act and Federal Government Backward Integration Policy do not impose a blanket prohibition on fuel imports.
The state-owned oil company maintained that petroleum imports remained permissible where necessary to guarantee national supply security.
The NNPC Ltd also contended that the NMDPRA acted within its statutory powers in issuing the disputed licences, arguing that the law permits the licensing of companies with local refining capacity or an established track record in petroleum trading.
It further maintained that the PIA did not prohibit fuel imports except where there was a verified domestic supply surplus, arguing that imports remain a legitimate mechanism for maintaining product availability and stabilising prices.
An early-morning fire has ravaged Eda Plaza, a building materials market opposite Chida Hotel in Jabi, Abuja, destroying shops and goods reportedly worth millions of naira.
The inferno broke out around 3am on Sunday, leaving traders counting their losses after the fire spread through parts of the plaza.
An eyewitness told the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that the alarm was raised after his brother-in-law, who owns two shops and a packing store at the plaza, received a distress call from a colleague informing him that the market was on fire.
ALSO READ:VDM Fires Back at Police, Releases First ‘Evidence’ Over Kidnap Claims
“We were at home this morning, as early as 3 am, and my brother-in-law received a call from one of his colleagues here in the plaza that the plaza was on fire. So we had to rush down there. On getting here, we discovered that the situation was so bad,” the eyewitness said.
According to him, only one of his brother-in-law’s two shops survived the inferno, while the other shop and the packing store were completely destroyed.
“In this plaza, my brother-in-law had two shops and a packing store. Unfortunately, only one of the shops was saved. The other shop and the packing store were totally damaged by the fire,” he added.
The eyewitness estimated the value of roofing materials lost in the blaze at more than N20 million, revealing that some of the affected materials had been restocked just hours before the fire.
“Over here, you see some of the roofs that we still have here. We are talking about a roof that is worth over N20 million lost in this fire,” he said.
He further lamented that some of the roofing materials had only been restocked the previous night.
“Because the other shop, we had roofs that were just restocked last night. And then the packing store also, we had roofs that were just restocked last night,” he said.
Confirming the incident, the National Public Relations Officer and Head of Corporate Services of the Federal Fire Service, Deputy Controller of Fire Paul Abraham, said a distress call about the Eda Plaza fire was received at 2:46am.
Abraham said the Federal Fire Service, in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory Fire Service, deployed firefighting appliances from its Wuse, Interior Ministry and Garki stations to battle the inferno.
He disclosed that a stop message was issued at 10:14am, indicating that the fire had been brought under control.
The Federal Fire Service spokesman added that investigations were ongoing to determine the remote and immediate causes of the fire.
Despite the extent of the destruction and the financial losses recorded, no casualty was reported.
The eyewitness expressed gratitude that the incident did not claim any life.
“In our situation, we give thanks to God that no life was lost in this situation,” he said.
The quest for increased oil production from the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 has seen the Nestoil Group deploy its Pathfinder 500 rig to carry out workover operations on two producing wells.
The deployment, carried out through the Group’s strategic business unit, Scorpio Drilling International, marks the first productive assignment of the Pathfinder 500 since its acquisition about eight years ago.
The Pathfinder 500 is one of two rigs acquired by the Nestoil Group as part of a combined investment of approximately $28 million. The second rig is the Scorpio 300.
READ ALSO: 172 HCDTs Incorporated — NUPRC
According to a statement issued by the Group over the weekend, the Pathfinder 500 was successfully mobilised to the OML 42 site, where it completed workover operations on the two wells without any Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) incidents before being safely demobilised to base.
The statement added that the successful operation also contributed to incremental oil production from OML 42 and is expected to support the Group’s planned in-field drilling programme.
Chairman of Nestoil/Neconde Group, Dr. Ernest Obiejesi, described the development as a defining moment for the Group and Nigeria’s indigenous drilling capacity.
Obiejesi said the rig had remained idle for eight years amid doubts that it would ever be deployed for productive operations, making its successful mobilisation, incident-free workover campaign and safe demobilisation a significant achievement.
He explained that the decision to invest in the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300 was driven by the need to reduce dependence on hired rigs, which could be difficult and costly to secure within Nigeria’s operating environment.
According to him, as an asset owner in OML 42, the Group requires reliable in-house drilling capacity to undertake workovers, revive mature wells and ultimately drill new wells as the field develops.
He said the successful deployment of the Pathfinder 500 now positions the Group to proceed with its planned in-field drilling programme.
Obiejesi further disclosed that the project, from rig refurbishment to crewing, was executed entirely by Nigerian personnel without foreign partnership or support.
He noted that the rig is currently operated by a 100 percent Nigerian crew, attributing the development to decades of capacity building by international oil companies operating in Nigeria.
The Nestoil chairman said the experience had helped position Nigeria as a net exporter of skilled drilling personnel to other oil-producing countries.
He commended the teams at Scorpio Drilling International and others involved in the rehabilitation and operation of the rig.
Obiejesi also said the achievement extends beyond Nestoil Group, noting that Scorpio Drilling International now has two operating rigs and is among companies with rig assets in Nigeria.
“Nestoil Group, through Neconde Energy, holds interests in OML 42 and continues to invest in indigenous drilling, workover and well-services infrastructure to sustain and increase oil production from the asset.
“Scorpio Drilling International operates the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300 rigs and provides drilling services to the Group and third parties across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry,” the statement added.
DPRP Uses Court to Restrain NMDPRA from Meddlesomeness
Group Credits PINL with Safeguarding Environment, Farms
Dangote Threatens Petrol Importers’ Supply Over Product Blending
JUST IN: ‘Nothing Left to Give’ — Messi Announces Retirement From Argentina
INEC Raises Alarm as Fake 2027 Election Recruitment Website Surfaces
2027: ‘We Must Build the Table’ — Opposition Leaders Meet in Abuja to Challenge Tinubu
Trump’s Family Unveils New Cryptocurrency Platform
Senate Denies Receiving Petitions Against Tinubu’s Ambassadorial Nominees
Dangote Cement Lights Up Benue Host Communities With CSR Initiatives
Reps Recommend 3-year Jail Term For Aviation minister
Tems Sets New Record On Billboard Hot 100 Chart
