The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, has said the contention over his academic credentials is an attempt at mudslinging, adding that he never claimed to have graduated from the University of Ife.
The University of Ife was renamed Obafemi Awolowo University on May 12, 1987 in honour of Chief Obafemi Awolowo whose brainchild the university was.
A suit filed earlier this month at a High Court in Abuja sought Abiodun’s disqualification from the governorship race on the grounds that he gave “false information” concerning his academic qualification which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Abiodun’s profile on his company website, Heyden Petroleum, (https://www.heydenpetroleum.com/profile.htm) states that he is CEO/Managing Director and that he possesses a BBA Accounting, as well as two honorary doctorates: Doctor of Finance and Doctor of Business Administration.
Abiodun, in an appearance on Sunday Politics, a live programme on Channels Television, however, said he had never misrepresented his educational credentials to anyone.
The APC candidate stated, “I never claimed to have finished from the University of Ife (in reality, Obafemi Awolowo University).
“I did go to school in Ife. I went to school in the University of Ife (sic), but I didn’t graduate from the University of Ife (OAU). I never claimed to have obtained a degree from the University of Ife (sic).”
When asked specifically about the Bachelor of Arts in Accounting — a degree he claimed to possess — Abiodun said he would not comment further.
When also asked to state the school from which he earned his degree, the APC candidate said doing so would not be proper, since the matter was still in court.
“But that (degree) is not from Ife. This has all been an attempt to mud sling and confuse the electorate, and it’s bundled with a lot of half-truths.
“I never claimed to have studied Accounting at the University of Ife (sic). I never claimed to have graduated from the University of Ife (sic).
“So, this issue has been presented as the presenter wanted it presented. I do have a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting and I would like to stop at that.
“The electorate know that I went to school and I have not misrepresented to anyone about my degrees.
“But it would be inconvenient for those who are intimidated and afraid of my electoral success to continue to attempt to disparage me and to present the matter as falsely as it suits them.
“The facts are being distorted but we will leave the matter since it is in court.”
