In the midst of the controversy over President Bola Tinubu’s academic records released by the Chicago State University (CSU), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has indicated that the Federal Government can not dwell on frivolities
Tuggar who appeared on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, said the certificate saga has not in anyway distracted the President nor tainted his recent engagements at the global stage.
The Minister, who noted that former President Muhammadu Buhari faced a similar attack from political opponents, said, “There is a tendency to always try to distract people with such frivolous issues as opposed to facing the major issues of development.
“We don’t have time to waste on that. Nobody is wasting time about certificate qualification for somebody who has been a Governor of a state, served two terms, and has been on the national stage as a politician.
“You remember that (former) President Buhari had to go through the same thing, where people were actually questioning whether he went to secondary school or not. Someone who had classmates and was the captain? He was a head boy.”
He insisted that during President Tinubu’s recent international meetings, no one showed interest in the controversy,
“The foreign leaders that we’ve been engaging and the international organisations clearly are interested in wasting time on such. We pay no mind to that.”
He said given the critical situation of the nation, Nigerians should concentrate more on development rather than mundane things such as obsession with so-called certification.
According to him; “With the economic challenges we are facing, we shouldn’t be wasting time about some certificate; whether there is a ‘T’ missing or an ‘I’ hasn’t been dotted. That shouldn’t be our primary focus at the moment.”