The presidency has refuted claims that the certificate President Bola Tinubu presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in order to run for president in 2023 is forged.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, issued a statement regarding the controversy on Wednesday, stating that the Chicago State University (CSU) did not admit that the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is a forgery anywhere in its deposition.

He argued further that the university affirmed under oath that Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution and that the school does not handle replacements for lost certificates.

His rebuttal comes amidst reports that the Chicago State University has said in the testimony of the institution that the Nigerian President presented a forged degree certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when he filed his paperwork to lead Nigeria in June 2022.

However, Ajayi in his submission said there is no truth in such claims as no man can forge a certificate he already possesses and it is only what you don’t have that you forge.

Taking to his account on the X micro-blogging platform, the presidential media aide wrote: “We should be clear.

“In the deposition made by the Chicago State University, there was nowhere the University said the certificate presented to INEC by President Tinubu is fake.

“The University insisted under oath that President Tinubu graduated with honours and even at that, replacements for lost certificates are done by vendors not the University.

“The claim that President Tinubu submitted fake certificate to INEC does not make sense. A man can not forge the academic records he possesses. You can only forge what you don’t have.”