Professor Okey Ikechukwu, Executive Director of Development Specs Academy, has claimed that one of the controversies surrounding former President Muhammadu Buhari’s school certificate was that it carried a passport photograph taken while Buhari was serving as President in his 80s.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, August 3, 2026, while discussing the debate over President Bola Tinubu’s academic records, Ikechukwu said disputes over the educational qualifications of political leaders are not new in Nigeria.
“Recall that General Buhari, late former President also had a challenge of school certificate. At a point they procured it and showed it with his passport. It just happened that the passport on the certificate was passport of him as president in his 80s,” he said.
According to Ikechukwu, the passport photograph attached to the document became a major point of public debate because it appeared to have been taken decades after the certificate was originally issued.
He made the remarks while comparing past disputes over academic qualifications with the ongoing controversy surrounding President Tinubu’s educational records, noting that such issues have repeatedly attracted legal challenges and widespread public scrutiny in Nigeria.
