2027 Election: PDP Chieftain Advises Party On How To Handle Tinubu’s Certificate Saga
- A Lagos-based PDP official published an open letter calling on party members to abandon Tinubu's certificate controversy ahead of 2027
- The chairman argued that the certificate strategy has failed in court repeatedly since 1999 and is costing the opposition valuable ground
- He outlined four steps he wants PDP members to take instead, covering ward organisation, policy messaging, and coalition building
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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 8 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
Lagos State - A ward-level Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) official in Lagos State, Hon. Paul West, has publicly urged party members across Nigeria to stop pursuing President Bola Tinubu's academic certificates as a political strategy and redirect their energy towards winning the 2027 general elections.
Hon West argued that the certificate debate has run its legal course and is no longer a viable path to power.
Source: Facebook
The Chairman of the Ward Chairmen Forum in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area, Lagos State, made the call in an open letter addressed to PDP members nationwide and made available to Legit.ng on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.
Why Tinubu's certificate strategy has failed
West pointed to a sequence of legal outcomes that he said conclusively closed the eligibility question. The Lagos State House of Assembly cleared Tinubu in 1999. The Supreme Court affirmed his presidency in 2023.
He added that Chicago State University confirmed under oath that Tinubu attended and graduated from the institution, and the Independent National Electoral Commission accepted his filings.
"The legal door on eligibility is closed," West wrote, adding that fresh court filings, subpoenas, or television debates on the subject would not change that outcome.
He also argued that the obsession with certificates carried a high political cost in the lead-up to 2023.
While PDP members were holding press conferences over diploma fonts and chasing documents in Chicago, he said the All Progressives Congress was organising at the polling unit level in Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, and Lagos, while ordinary Nigerians were waiting for answers on food prices, fuel, security, and jobs.
What West wants PDP members to do instead
The ward chairman laid out four actions he wants the party to take before 2027.
First, he called on the party to close the certificate chapter entirely and let go of a strategy he described as exhausted legally, politically, and publicly.
Second, he urged members to return to substantive opposition politics by presenting a clear alternative economic plan and communicating the party's position on restructuring, state police, power devolution, and the rising cost of living.
Third, he stressed the need to rebuild the party from the ward level upward. He asked national and zonal officers to return to their home wards, listen to constituents, resolve divisions within state chapters, mentor young members, and support candidates capable of winning on their own merit rather than through the disqualification of opponents.
Fourth, he called on the party to build broad alliances with Nigerians outside PDP who share a desire for better governance, noting that the party has candidates at every level from the presidency down to state assemblies.
"President Tinubu is a political opponent, not an enemy of the state," West wrote. "If we believe his policies are failing, let us prove it with superior ideas and superior organisation, not with endless litigation over a 1999 Form CF.001 or the blank 2022 Form EC9."
He closed by reminding the party that its 1999 electoral victory was built on offering hope, and argued the same approach is the only realistic route back to power.
Source: Facebook
APC, ADC members clash over Tinubu's credentials
Recall that APC and ADC members argued on live television over President Tinubu's educational records during a political programme on August 3, 2026
The debate centred on whether Tinubu can produce primary and secondary school certificates to back his claimed academic history.
Nigerians took to social media to react to the televised argument, with many asking why the question triggers hostility from APC loyalists.
Tinubu's school certificates missing in INEC form
Earlier, Legit.ng also reported that INEC published Tinubu's 2027 nomination documents listing only his CSU degree, with sections for primary and secondary school qualifications left blank.
Senior lawyers and opposition parties raised questions about the omission, citing constitutional requirements for presidential candidates in Nigeria.
INEC said it does not verify the authenticity of credentials, adding that the publication is meant for public scrutiny under the Electoral Act 2026.
Source: Legit.ng
