Daud Olatunji
Senator Ali Ndume has urged opposition parties and their presidential aspirants to stop dwelling on President Bola Tinubu’s academic credentials and instead present Nigerians with clear alternatives to the policies of the Federal Government.
Ndume, a former Senate Leader and Senator representing Borno South, said opposition politicians should focus their campaigns on issues affecting Nigerians as preparations for the 2027 general elections intensify.
The lawmaker made the call in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.
According to him, continued controversy over Tinubu’s certificate would only distract Nigerians from the substantive issues that should shape the next presidential election.
He said opposition presidential candidates should tell Nigerians what they would do differently if elected, particularly in the areas of the economy, security and governance.
“The narrative around his certificate is distracting. What opposition presidential candidates should be doing is to tell Nigerians what they have to offer.
“What are their alternative economic policies? What can they do better than President Tinubu?
“They should interrogate his economic policies and how his government has handled insecurity. The President has been in office for over three years now. So why should his certificates be the main talking point?” Ndume asked.
The senator’s comments came amid renewed scrutiny of the educational qualifications declared by Tinubu in his statutory forms.
Questions have been raised over the fact that the President’s EC9 form reportedly left the columns for primary and secondary education blank, while listing a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Chicago State University, obtained in 1979.
However, Ndume argued that Tinubu had satisfied the constitutional requirement for contesting the presidency.
He cited Section 131(d) of the 1999 Constitution, which requires a presidential candidate to be educated to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.
“The Constitution only sets a minimum educational qualification. It does not say it must be a secondary school certificate,” he said.
Ndume also maintained that the legal disputes surrounding Tinubu’s qualifications had already been subjected to judicial scrutiny following the 2023 presidential election.
He consequently challenged opposition parties to move beyond what he described as petty political arguments and raise the quality of their campaigns ahead of 2027.
“As we move deeper into campaigns, the opposition should elevate the discourse beyond pettiness,” the senator said.
He urged the opposition to engage the electorate with concrete programmes capable of addressing the country’s economic challenges, insecurity and other pressing national problems.
Ndume also invoked a quotation attributed to former United States First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, to underscore his argument that political campaigns should be centred on ideas rather than personalities.
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people,” he stated.
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