(Minister of Education Tunji Alausa And President Bola. Photo by X/Instablog)
Minister of Education Tunji Alausa has defended President Bola Tinubu’s academic record, saying the president graduated with a first class degree in accounting from Chicago State University in the United States.
Speaking in a television interview on Tuesday, Alausa said he knows the university well.
He said he lived in Chicago for almost thirty years and has visited the campus many times.
Alausa also said he has met many people who studied alongside Tinubu.
When asked about the first class claim, Alausa said the degree was in accounting.
He summarized the president as a genius and dismissed questions about his capacity for the job.
He also praised Tinubu’s record in office, saying the president had turned a struggling country into one that is growing.
When the interviewer raised concerns about out of school children and poverty, Alausa asked to keep the focus on the president’s achievements.
Tinubu’s academic background has been under public scrutiny for some time, especially after a dispute over his Chicago State University records during the 2023 presidential election case.
The issue came up again in August 2026, when the electoral commission, INEC, began publishing the personal details and academic credentials of presidential candidates for the 2027 elections.
Tinubu’s Form EC9, seen by a national newspaper, lists a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Chicago State University, awarded with honours in June 1979.
It also lists his National Youth Service Corps discharge, showing he served in Oyo State from December 1982 to November 1983.
The spaces for his primary and secondary school qualifications were filled with “0000.”
Commentators and political figures have reacted differently to these gaps in the record.
The university confirmed in 2023 that Tinubu attended and graduated in 1979 with accounting as his major.
That year, after a legal request from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, it released his academic records.
The university’s registrar, Caleb Westberg, also testified in a United States court that Tinubu studied and graduated there.
However, the university’s records confirm only his major and do not state that he graduated with a first class.
That claim was made by Alausa in Tuesday’s interview.
In October 2023, an international fact-check found no evidence that Tinubu forged the diploma he submitted to INEC.
“I have been to the University of Chicago, and I met so many of President Tinubu’s classmates in person. He is literally a genius.” — Dr. Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, recounts meeting President Tinubu’s former classmates in person and praises the President’s academic brilliance. #seunokinbaloye #politicstoday #channelstv
— SeunOkin Channels tv (@seunokin) November 3, 2026