TheCable

Jude Idimogu, deputy leader of Ndigbo in the Lagos state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has asked Nigerians to allow President Bola Tinubu to concentrate on giving the country good governance.

 Idimogu, a former lawmaker representing Oshodi-Isolo constituency II in the Lagos house of assembly, spoke on Friday in an interview with NAN.

He said the certificate forgery allegations against Tinubu is a distraction, claiming that the president could not have committed the crime.

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, is challenging the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 poll.

Abubakar is also challenging the tribunal’s judgement that upheld Tinubu’s victory on September 6.

The PDP candidate had alleged that Tinubu’s educational records were fraught with discrepancies and forgeries.

His request for the US court for the northern district of Illinois to compel Chicago State University (CSU) to release Tinubu’s academic records was granted on Monday.

Abubakar said he would use the academic records obtained from CSU against Tinubu at the supreme court.

At a world press conference on Thursday, Abubakar said he would only “drop” the case against Tinubu’s academic records after the apex court’s verdict.

However, Idimogu said Tinubu “did not and will never forge any certificate”, noting that all the documents the president submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are “clean and true”.

“We want to appeal to Nigerians to calm down and not allow themselves to be deceived by those dragging Nigeria’s name in the mud,” NAN quoted him as saying.

“We want the opposition to allow our President whom God gave to us, to breathe. Please allow him to breathe for the sake of the masses.

“They (opposition) should desist from trying to tarnish the image of Nigeria and that of President Bola Tinubu.

“There is nothing anyone can do right now because God has ordained him to be President and he emerged in spite of all visible hurdles.

“God has crowned him as president, we should stop all pettiness.

“No matter what the detractors are doing, they cannot pull Tinubu down because God and Nigerians are behind him and he is a man of grace.”

The former lawmaker asked opposition candidates to wait for another election season to run for president.

“The matter of certificate is a pre-election matter and cannot make any opposition presidential candidate come through the back door,” he said.

Idimogu said Tinubu would overcome the allegations against him, adding that has surmounted such hurdles in the past.