Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has insisted that President Bola Tinubu obtained a first-class degree in accounting from Chicago State University in the United States, making the claim during a defence of the President’s academic qualifications. Alausa made the declaration during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday, where he was questioned about Tinubu’s educational […]
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has insisted that President Bola Tinubu obtained a first-class degree in accounting from Chicago State University in the United States, making the claim during a defence of the President’s academic qualifications.
Alausa made the declaration during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday, where he was questioned about Tinubu’s educational background and the controversy surrounding his university records.
The minister cited his nearly 30 years of residence in Chicago and familiarity with the institution, saying he had visited the university several times and personally interacted with people who attended it alongside the President.
“I’m telling you hardcore facts. I lived in Chicago for almost 30 years. I’ve been to that university so many times,” he said.
Asked whether he had met Tinubu’s former classmates, Alausa responded that he had encountered several of them personally, insisting that his knowledge of the institution and its students supported his position.
When the interviewer specifically asked whether the President graduated with a first-class degree, the minister replied, “In accounting, of course.”
Alausa went further to describe Tinubu as a genius, dismissing questions about his intellectual ability and praising what he described as the President’s exceptional capabilities.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is literally a genius,” the minister declared.
He also defended the administration’s record, arguing that Tinubu had moved Nigeria from a moribund state three years earlier towards economic growth.
However, the interviewer questioned the minister’s assessment by highlighting persistent poverty and the country’s out-of-school children population. Alausa resisted the diversion, insisting that attention should remain on what he described as the administration’s achievements.
Tinubu’s academic credentials have remained a subject of public debate, particularly since the 2023 presidential election dispute, when former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar sought the release of the President’s academic records from Chicago State University.
The issue resurfaced in August 2026 when INEC began displaying the personal particulars and educational qualifications submitted by presidential candidates for the 2027 elections. Tinubu’s Form EC9 listed a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Chicago State University, awarded on June 22, 1979.
Although the university confirmed that Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution in 1979, with accounting as his major, the released records did not specify that he obtained a first-class classification.
The university’s registrar, Caleb Westberg, had also testified in a United States court in September 2023, confirming Tinubu’s attendance and graduation. Separately, a BBC fact-check published in October 2023 found no evidence that the diploma submitted by Tinubu to INEC was forged.