A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Monday Ubani, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not under any constitutional obligation to submit his primary or secondary school certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as part of his nomination documents for the 2027 presidential election.
Ubani made the clarification on Wednesday, August 5, during an interview on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, following renewed public debate over the President’s educational qualifications.
The controversy resurfaced after former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, alleged that Tinubu did not include his primary and secondary school certificates among the documents submitted to INEC.
The issue gained further attention after INEC published the credentials of all presidential candidates, prompting fresh questions over whether a university degree alone satisfies the constitutional educational requirement or whether candidates must also provide evidence of their primary and secondary education.
Addressing the matter, Ubani said the issue should be viewed strictly through the lens of the law rather than public opinion.
“It is about the law, not about maybe sentiment or bias, which I see flying about,” he stated.
The senior lawyer referred to Section 131 of the 1999 Constitution, explaining that it only requires anyone seeking the office of President to have attained education up to school certificate level or its equivalent.
According to him, the Constitution does not specifically require candidates to produce their primary or secondary school certificates.
“The Constitution says that whosoever will run for the office of the president must possess, show that he has attained the level up to school certificate level,” he clarified.
“There’s no legal compulsion that he must disclose his certificate or he must show it. I’ll say that it’s only a moral issue and it has nothing to do with legal compulsion.”
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Ubani added that Nigerian courts have previously interpreted the constitutional provision to mean that candidates only need to demonstrate they attained the required educational level, not necessarily present the certificates themselves.
“There’s no constitutional compulsion to show a certificate, and there is a judicial pronouncement to that effect that the Constitution does not require the production of a certificate. It’s just for you to show that you have been educated up to that level.”
He argued that possession of a university degree ordinarily implies that the holder must have completed primary and secondary education.
Even so, Ubani acknowledged that making such certificates public would improve transparency.
“I agree that ordinarily, whoever is submitting his credentials should have shown evidence of his primary school certificate and should have also shown evidence of his secondary school certificate.
“These are issues of transparency,” he stated.
The SAN also defended INEC’s role in the process, saying the electoral commission is only required to publish documents submitted by candidates, not verify their authenticity at that stage.
He explained that any challenge to a candidate’s educational qualifications is a pre-election matter that must be filed within 14 days of INEC publishing the nomination documents.
Ubani also commented on concerns surrounding the academic credentials of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, after questions were raised over differences in the names appearing on his WAEC, University of Nigeria and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) records.
He said discrepancies in names do not automatically indicate wrongdoing but should be properly explained through official documentation.
“It’s an issue now. Peter Obi has to give a reason why the change and all that. It’s an issue. There must be a public document to that effect.”