Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State and a group, the Ondo State Redemption Initiative, OSRI, have traded words over the certificate forgery allegation levelled against the former.
With the development heating up the polity in the state ahead of the November governorship election, OSRI accused the governor of alleged certificate forgery, stressing he is unfit to hold office as governor.
In a statement by the group’s president, Pastor Adebayo Ogunsanmi, secretary Jide Oriola, and publicity secretary Sunday Ayeni, they described Aiyedatiwa’s educational claims as a sham.
According to the group, Aiyedatiwa claimed to have obtained an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Ibadan, UI, in 2001.
OSRI also disclosed that, through investigations, it was discovered that UI did not offer an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration at the time.
“He claimed to have earned an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Ibadan in 2001, after which he claimed to have become an alumnus of Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University, situated in Lekki, Lagos, though his year and course of study were not included.
“He further claimed to have obtained a Post Graduate Certification in Chief Executive Education (CEP) in Business Management, after which he received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Liverpool in the UK in 2013.”
Reacting to the allegation, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, who refuted the allegations, described them as an attempt to tarnish the governor’s reputation.
Adeniyan stated that the allegation was orchestrated to blackmail his boss, emphasising that the claims were false.
The governor’s spokesperson added that Aiyedatiwa’s credentials are in the public domain, and they were duly submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while running on a joint ticket with his late boss, former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, in 2020.
“Any attempt to raise allegations around the credentials of Mr. Governor is nothing but a plot out of the playbook of those who failed in their efforts to impeach him when he was Deputy Governor.”
