Top Governorship Candidate Forced To Drop Fraudulent PhD From INEC Documents
Top Governorship Candidate Forced To Drop Fraudulent PhD From INEC Documents
This was weeks after a series of investigations by WikkiTimes questioned the authenticity of the certificate.
The governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Bauchi State, Yakubu Adamu, has removed the controversial Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree he previously claimed from the academic qualifications submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This was weeks after a series of investigations by WikkiTimes questioned the authenticity of the certificate.
A review of documents filed with INEC shows that Adamu now lists only his First School Leaving Certificate, Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) certificate and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Management as his academic qualifications.
The PhD, which had featured prominently in his public profile, is no longer included in the documents submitted to the electoral commission.
The development comes after an extensive WikkiTimes investigation into the doctorate Adamu claimed to have obtained from the International University of Bamenda (IUB) in Cameroon.
According to WikkiTimes, its initial investigation revealed that Cameroon’s higher education authorities do not authorise private universities, including IUB, to award doctoral degrees.
The report further alleged that the university had been sanctioned by Cameroonian regulators and that Adamu’s doctoral thesis was supervised by a bursary official who was not a teaching staff member and completed within approximately 40 days.
Discover more
Geographic Reference
Journalism training course
Report corruption tool
Africa
Executive Branch
In subsequent reports, WikkiTimes also examined claims by Adamu’s supporters that IUB’s international partnerships validated the institution’s credibility.
The newspaper reported that the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the Chartered College of Teaching in London both denied having any partnership or affiliation with IUB. It also found that Cardinal Stritch University, another institution listed as a partner, had ceased operations in 2023, while American Central University, also cited by IUB, was an unaccredited institution linked by United States regulators to a diploma mill.
In another follow-up investigation, it was reported that Nigeria’s National Universities Commission (NUC) said the International University of Bamenda was not among the foreign universities recognised in the Commission’s records.
The NUC also clarified that the verification of foreign institutions falls outside its statutory responsibilities.
Following the investigations, Adamu’s latest INEC submission now lists only his primary school certificate, SSCE and MBA in Management as his educational qualifications, omitting any reference to the previously claimed PhD.
As of the time of filing the report, efforts to obtain Adamu’s reaction to the omission of the doctorate from his INEC records were unsuccessful.
