Human rights lawyer and professor, Chidi Odinkalu, has taken a swipe at Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Babatunde Ogala over his defence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu amid controversy surrounding the president’s educational records.
Odinkalu, in a post on his X account on Saturday, questioned the legal argument reportedly advanced by Ogala, a former National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in defending Tinubu over the absence of primary and secondary schools in his electoral documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ogala while appearing to Channels Television programme, said that does who seek clarification on the Tinubu’s certificate should go to court, rather than requiring the president or his legal representatives to provide evidence supporting his educational history.
Addressing Ogala directly, Odinkalu wrote:
“You are a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN. That means you have a minimum of 2 degrees.”
He continued:
“A senior public officer comes to hire you to argue that he does not have to go to primary school.”
Taking further aim at the former APC legal adviser, Odinkalu added:
“You take the brief & start asking people to go to court to prove that your client didn’t go to primary school. Are you ok?!”
The remarks followed renewed public debate over Tinubu’s educational history, particularly the information contained in documents submitted to INEC during the electoral process.
Ogala, a prominent lawyer and former APC national legal adviser, has been among those defending the president’s position on the controversy.
Odinkalu’s comments have added a sharp political and legal dimension to the debate, as questions over the evidentiary burden surrounding candidates’ educational records continue to attract public attention.
The controversy has also triggered competing arguments among lawyers and political actors over what candidates are required to disclose in their electoral forms and who bears the burden of proving disputed aspects of a candidate’s educational history.
