Information Minister Speaks on Tinubu’s Certificate Controversy, Says It’s ‘Trivial Matter’

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has said government would not be distracted by the controversy over President Bola Tinubu’s certificate from Chicago State University (CSU), describing it as a “trivial matter.”

Speaking in a TV interview Wednesday, Tuggar said despite the controversy, the President had met with other world leaders and  the issue did not come up during any of his recent international engagements.

“The foreign leaders that we’ve been engaging and the international organisations clearly are disinterested in wasting time on such.
“We pay no mind to that,” Tuggar said.

The minister recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari faced similar challenged during the early days of his administration. 

“There is a tendency to always try to distract and detain people on such frivolous issues as opposed to facing the major issues of development. We don’t have time to waste on that.
“Nobody is wasting time about certificate qualification for somebody who has been a governor of a state, served two terms, and has been on the national stage as a politician.
“You remember that (former) President Buhari had to go through the same thing, where people were actually questioning whether he went to secondary school or not. Someone who had classmates, was the captain; and was a head boy,” he said.

Turggar urged Nigerian to focus on development issues rather than expending energy and time on trivial matter. 

“Considering the economic challenges we are facing, we shouldn’t be wasting time about whether some certificate, whether there is a T missing or an I hasn’t been dotted. That shouldn’t be our primary focus at the moment,” he said.